n 






/QZ^#tt>LJZ^>&- 




By bequest of 
Samuel Hay Kauffmami- 



LEE AND SHEPARD'S 



Handbooks and Manuals. 



PRONOUNCING HANDBOOK 

Of three_ thousand words often mispronounced, and of words as to 
which a choice of pronunciation is allowed. By Richard 
Soule and Loomis J. Campbell. Price 50 cents; cheap edi- 
tion, 35 cents. 

HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH SYNONYMS. 

With an Appendix, showing the correct use of Prepositions, also 
a collection of Foreign Phrases. By Loomis J. Campbell. 
Cloth, price 50 cents. 

HANDBOOK OF CONVERSATION. 

Its Faults and its Graces. Compiled hy Andrew P. Peabodt, 
D.D., LL.D. Cloth, price 50 cents. 

HINTS AND HELPS FOR THOSE "WHO 
"WRITE, PRINT, OR READ. 

By Benjamin Drew, Proof-reader. Cloth, price 50 cents. 

HANDBOOK OF LIGHT GYMNASTICS. 

By Lucy B. Hdnt, instructor in Gymnastics at Smith (Female) 
College, Northampton, Mass. Cloth, illustrated, price 50 cents. 

HANDBOOK OF BOAT SAILING. 

By D. Frazer. With numerous Diagrams and Illustrations. 
Cloth, price $1.00. 

HANDBOOK OF PUNCTUATION, 

And other Typographical Matters. By Marshall T. Bigelow, 
. Corrector at the University Press, Cambridge. Cloth, 50 cents. 

HANDBOOK OF ELOCUTION SIMPLIFIED. 

By Walter K. Fobes, with an Introduction by George M. 
Baxer. Cloth, 50 cents. 

GHOET STUDIES OF AMERICAN AUTHORS. 

By Tuozias Wentworth Higginson. Price 50 cents. 

[over. 



New Edition, Entirely Rewritten, op 

TAXIDERMY WITHOUT A TEACHER. 

Comprising a Complete Manual of Instruction for Preparing and 
Preserving Birds, Animals, and Fishes; with a chapter on 
Hunting and Hygiene; together with Instructions for Preserv- 
ing Eggs and Making Skeletons, and a number of Valuable 
Receipts. By Walter P. Manton. Illustrated. Price 50 cts. 

INSECTS. 

How to Catch and How to Prepare them for the Cabinet. Com- 
prising a Manual of Instruction for the Field Naturalist. Il- 
lustrated. By Walter P. Manton. Price 50 cents. 

FIELD BOTANY. 

A Handbook for the Collector. Containing Instructions for Gather- 
ing and Preserving Plants, the Formation of an Herbarium, 
Floral Designs, Skeleton Leaves, etc. By Walter P. Manton. 
Cloth, illustrated, 50 cents. 

HANDBOOK OF WOOD ENGRAVING, 

With practical instruction in the art for persons wishing to learn 
without an Instructor; containing a description of tools and 
apparatus used, and explaining the manner of engraving vari- 
ous classes of work. Also a History of the Art, from its Origin 
to the Present Time. By William A. Emerson, wood en- 
graver. Illustrated. New Edition. Cloth, $1.00. 

THE STARS AND THE EARTH: 

Or, Thoughts upon Time, Space, and Eternity. With an intro- 
duction by Thomas Hill, D.D., LL.D., late President of Har- 
vard University. Cloth, 50 cents. 

PATIENCE. 

By Mrs. Ednah I). Cheney. A Series of Solitaire Games with 
Cards. Price 75 cents. 

SOCIAL GAMES 

With Cards for the Home Circle. 

By Mrs. Ednah I). Cheney. Price 75 cents. 



Sold by all Booksellers and Newsdealers, and sent by mail, post- 
paid, on receipt of price. 



LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, BOSTON. 

[over. 



HI-NTS AND HELPS 



THOSE WHO WRITE, PRINT, OR READ 



BENJAMIN DREW 



'H portion to Setoett, ano also to IStgfjt" 



BOSTON 

LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS 

NEW YORK 

CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871. 

BY BENJAMIN DREW, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PREFACE. 



As " man measures man the world over," so 
it may be presumed that the experience of a 
laborer in any one department of literature, will, 
in the general, tally with that of all others occu- 
pying a similar position. This volume gives the 
results of a proof-reader's experience, and such 
suggestions derived therefrom as may, he hopes, 
be useful to all who prepare reading-matter for 
the press, to all who assist in printing and pub- 
lishing it, and, finally, to the reading public. 

But as a vein of imperfection runs through all 
human achievement ; and as the most carefully 
issued volume must contain errors, — so this 
work, if critically examined, may perhaps be 
found to violate, in some instances, its own 
rules ; nay, the rules themselves may appear to 
be, in some points, erroneous. Still, the inex- 

3 



4 PKEFACE. 

perienced, we feel assured, will find herein many 
thiugs of immediate benefit ; and those who need 
no instruction may have their opinions and their 
wisdom , re-enforced by the examples used in 
illustration. So, believing that on the whole it 
will be serviceable ; that it contains " a portion " 
for "seven, and also" for "eight," we send this 
treatise to press. And if its perusal shall incite 
some more competent person to produce a more 
valuable work on the topics presented, we shall 
gladly withdraw, and leave him, so far as we 
are concerned, the undisputed possession of the 
field. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Writing for the Press 7 

II. Proof-reading 29 

III. Style 43 

IV. Punctuation 51 

V. Orthography 100 

VI. Reading Greek 121 

VII. Technical, Terms used ln this Work 125 

Various Sizes of Letter 129 

Specimen of Proof, marked for Correction . . . 130 
Marks used in correcting Proofs 131 



5 



PENS AND TYPES. 



CHAPTER I. 

WRITING FOR THE PRESS. 

In an action recently brought against the 
proprietors of Lloyd's paper, in London, for 
damages for not inserting a newspaper ad- 
vertisement correctly, the verdict was for the 
defendant, by reason of the illegibility of the 
writing. 

"The illegibility of the writing" is the cause of 
the larger portion of what are conveniently termed 
"errors of the press." One can scarcely take up 
a periodical publication without finding, from 
editor or correspondent, an apology for some 
error in a previous issue, couched somewhat in 
this style : " The types made us say, in our last, 
something about the * Dogs of the Seine ' ; we 
certainly wrote 'Days of the League.'" We 
have no doubt that, in a large majority of cases 
of this sort, if the question between " the types " 

7 



8 PEXS AND TYPES. 

and "the pen" were left to a jury, they would, 
as in the case of Lloyd's paper, decide in favor 
of the types. 

By dint of hard study, by comparison of letters 
in various words, and by the sense of the context, 
the compositor generally goes through his task 
creditably,in spite of the " illegibility of the writ- 
ing." But sometimes, in despair, he puts into 
type that word which most nearly resembles an 
unreadable word in the manuscript, making non- 
sense of the passage because he can make noth- 
ing else of it. We remember a great many 
instances of this sort, in our own experience as 
a proof-reader, — instances which, according to 
custom, might be attributed to "the types," but 
which were really due to the writers' carelessness 
alone. Thus, in a medical work, it was stated 
that " This case had been greatly aggravated by 
the ossification of warm poultices to the face"; 
the author having intended to write " applica- 
tion." 

Ames's " Typographical Antiquities " has been 
made to figure as " Typographical Ambiguities," 
— owing to chirographical ambiguity. 

"The reports in the * Times' and other jour- 
nals, never give the name of the Lord Chandler." 
" Chancellor " was, of course, intended by the 
writer, but this was an "error of the press." 

In au investigation touching the field of a com- 



WRITING FOR THE PRESS. 9 

pound microscope, a witness was made to say, 
" It would vary with the power of the lye-juice 
employed." The reporter meaut to write " eye- 
piece," but he succeeded in writing what the 
compositor set up. 

The fitle of a book, — "A Treatise on the 
Steam-engine ; with Theological Investigations 
on the Motive Power of Heat." The latter 
clause might seem appropriate to "Fox's Book 
of Martyrs " ; but the transcriber of the title 
imagined he had written "Theoretical." 

A toast, — "The President of the County 

Agricultural Society, — May he enjoy a grim old 
age " : the word was corrected to "green," before 
the whole edition of the paper was worked off. 

We have seen an advertisement of " Matlle- 
bran's Universal Geography," — no doubt a very 
entertaining work. 

In a treatise on botany, we have been told, 
" we first find those that form the bud, then the 
calx, the corrola, the stamina and pistol." The 
writer should have spelled correctly, and dotted 
his is. 

A catalogue of hardware to be sold by auction 
had an item, "3 bbis. English pocket-knives." 
This was set from " commercial " writing, in 
which "bbls.," or something like it, was used as 
a .contraction for " bladed." 

"Nature intended man for a social being. 



10 PENS AND TYPES. 

Alone and isolated, man would become impa- 
tient and peevish." No doubt this is true ; but 
"the types" were to blame again, — the author 
fancied that he had written " impotent, and 
perish." 

The constitution of a certain corporation ap- 
peared with the following article in the proof- 
sheet : " The Directors shall have power to 
purchase, build, equip or charter all such steam- 
boats, propellers, or other vessels, as the engi- 
neers of the Corporation shall in their judgment 
require." Why the Directors should be placed at 
the mercy of the engineers seemed unaccountable. 
But a critical examination of the manuscript re- 
vealed that the "engineers" were "exigencies." 

A " Bill of exceptions having been examined, 
and found unfavorable to the truth, is allowed." 
The Justice who signed the above, understood 
the word which we have italicized to be " con- 
formable." 

"They could not admit those parts of the tes- 
timony until they had examined the plaintiff in 
regard to the poets." — " Facts " should have 
been written instead of " poets " ; but the " pen " 
made an error which the compositor did not feel 
at liberty to correct. 

We have read in a newspaper a description of 
a battle-held ; — "It was fearful to see : the men 
fell in ranks, and marched in pantaloons to their 



WRITING FOR THE PRESS. 11 

final account." This was explained by an erasure 
and a blot on the word " platoons." 

It is very easy to say that errors of the kind 
we have recited, are owing to the ignorance ox 
carelessness of the printers ; but, on the other 
hand, when printed copy is reset, such errors 
almost never occur, — and the absence of evrovr 
is in direct ratio to the legibility of the copy. 

Men who write much, general Iv imagine thai- 
they write well ; but their imagination is often f* 
vain one. The writer of the worst manuscript 
we recollect to have met with, expressed surprise 
when told that printers and proof-readers could 
not read his writing, and remarked that he had 
often been complimented on the plainness and 
neatness of his chirography. His memory was, 
no doubt, excellent, — the compliments must 
have been bestowed in his juvenile days, when 
he was imitating engraved copies. 

While one is imitating a copy, he may, indeed, 
write legibly, nay, even elegantly ; for he has, 
nothing to attend to, save the formation of the 
letters. But when he is writing a report or i 
sermon or a poem, his mind is busy with some- 
thing besides chirography. 

The fact is, that men seldom succeed well in 
doing more than one thing at a time. The itin- 
erant musician who imitates the various instru- 
ments of a full band, may be detected in an 



12 PSNS AND TYPES. 

occasional discord. Paley remarks that we can- 
not easily swallow while we gape; and, if any 
one will try the experiment, he will presently be 
satisfied that in this statement, at least, Paley was 
physiologically and philosophically correct. 

Thus, iii the haste of composition, ideas crowd 
ing upon us faster than the pen can give them 
permanence, we can bestow little thought on 
mere chirography ; writing becomes mechanical, 
or even automatic ; and we pay scarcely more 
attention to the forms that follow the pen, than 
we do to the contractions and dilatations of the 
vocal organs when engaged in conversation with 
an entertaining friend. 

Let school training and practice be the same, 
yet such are the differences of physical confor- 
mation that handwritings are as various as the 
individuals that produce them ; running through 
all degrees of the scale, from an elegance tran- 
scending the engraver's skill, down to misshapen 
difficulties and puzzling deformity. 

But however widely our handwriting may vary 
from Wrifford, Spencer, or Dunton, it is gener- 
ally legible to ourselves, and soon becomes famil- 
iar to our friends and acquaintances. Hence 
comes the danger that we shall cease to bestow 
any care upon it when others than ourselves and 
acquaintances are concerned ; and hence it is, 
that, with scarcely any consciousness of our 



WRITING FOR THE PRESS. 13 

short-comings, we are liable to impose on an 
utter stranger the task of deciphering a piece 
of manuscript in which not only the letters have 
no proper characterization, but which is smutched 
with erasures, deformed by interlineations, and 
obscured by frequent and needless abbreviations. 

The loss of time spent in endeavoring to read 
such a document, is reckoned among the "small 
things" of which "the law takes no cognizance" ; 
were it otherwise, many of us who fancy that our 
manuscript is aboye reproach, would be aston- 
ished at the number of bills collectible, or at 
least payable, outstanding against us. 

Complaints may indeed casually reach us, or 
ridicule may laugh at our scrawls. But fashion 
seems to hold no " fluctuating seat," so far as 
penmanship is concerned. We learn from Ham- 
let, that "the statists" of his day held it a " base- 
ness to write fair"; and the same opinion seems 
prevalent even now ; for few, after leaving school, 
endeavor to improve in this respect, and many 
learned men write as if afraid that legibility 
would be considered proof of intellectual weak- 
ness. 

In all other cases of encroaching on the time 
and patience of another, — as, for instance, our 
failure to fulfil an appointment, or calling at an 
unseasonable hour, or seeking advice in an affair 
wholly our own, — we feel bound to make due 



14 PENS AND TYPES. 

apology, nay, sometimes even acknowledge a 
sense of shame ; but who ever felt regret on 
hearing that he had put some one to the trouble 
of studying, and guessing at, and puzzling out 
cramped writing, seeking aid from dictionaries, 
gazetteers, directories, and even experts? We 
never heard of a man's suffering compunction 
on this score. 

We say this, referring to ordinary business 
transactions between man and man, where bad 
writing, except in rare and extreme cases, does 
not involve pecuniary loss. But when we are 
writing for the press, our duty to write legibly 
becomes imperative ; indeed, a failure in this 
respect, trenches so closely upon a violation of 
the eighth commandment, that it can seldom 
happen but from a want of thought as to the 
relation between those who write and those who 
print. 

Compositors usually work by the piece, and 
are paid a fixed rate per thousand ems. If a 
line of type be divided by vertical lines into 
equal squares, these squares show the number 
of ems in the line. Suppose there are twenty 
such squares : then fifty lines would contain one 
thousand ems. To set, correct, and distribute 
six thousand ems, is considered a fair day's 
work. With plain, legible copy, this can ordi- 
narily be done ; and, at the close of the week, 



WRITIXU FOR THE PRESS. 15 

the compositor receives full wages : all parties 
are satisfied, ttfld no one is entitled to complain. 

But it", at the end of the week, notwithstand- 
ing the closest application, the compositor has 
averaged but four thousand ems per day, whereby 
he receives but two thirds of the sum he is capa- 
ble of earning under favorable conditions, who 
is morally responsible to him for the lacking 
third? We need not go far to ascertain: a 
glance at his " copy " answers the question. He 
has been laboring upon bad manuscript. ,To 
show the difficulties which have been in his 
way, we will put a supposititious case; — and 
yet we can scarcely apply that adjective to a 
case the reality of which every compositor will 
recognize. 

He has been setting up a sermon of the Rev. 
Mr. Z. The society of the reverend gentleman 
were so well pleased with the discourse, that 
they requested a copy for the press. Mr. Z. 
should, of course, have copied the whole manu- 
script fairly ; for, the haste of composition being 
past, he could have written it off carefully, pay- 
ing special attention to chirography, spell iug out 
his abbreviations, reducing dislocations, bringing 
interlineations into line, — in short, he should 
have done to the compositor what he would that 
the compositor should do unto him. But, in- 
stead of this, what did you do, Mr. Z. ? Pen 



16 PENS AND TYPES. 

in hand, yon re-read the sermon, making era- 
sures, striking out some words and interlining 
others-. You crowded new sentences, of two or 
three lines each, between lines already closely 
written ; and you interlined these interlineations. 
You then wrote sundry additions on loose pieces 
of paper, denoting them as "A," "B," "C," etc., 
and then placed the same capitals in the body of 
the work, without sufficiently explaining that 
new matter was to be inserted ; neither did you 
make it appear whether the addenda were to 
constitute new paragraphs. And in this amor- 
phous condition you allowed the sermon to go to 
the printing office. It has, too, passed through 
several hands. Some of the pieces belonging 
to "A," have got into "B," and some of the "B" 
have straggled into " C," and the printers cannot 
say where they do belong. 

Dean Kamsay tells an anecdote of an old ser- 
vant of Colonel Erskine, the father of the cele- 
brated lawyer. On one occasion the servant had 
done something that very much displeased his 
master. The Colonel's wrath became quite un- 
controllable, his utterance was choked, and his 
countenance became pale as death. The servant 
got somewhat uneasy, and at last said, " Eh, 
sir, maybe an aith would relieve you." We are 
sure, Mr. Z., you will much regret, that the 
'•ompositor who has your manuscript in hand 



WRITING FOR THE PRESS. 17 

will often seek "relief" after the manner indi- 
cated by the old Scotch servant. We have heard 
a man, with such manuscript as yours before 
him, exclaim, "If this author had known how 
much swearing there would be over his writing, 
he would have written better ! " 

One compositor finds in his "take"* the ab- 
breviation "Xu," and, after many inquiries, 
learns that X is the Greek Chi, and so " Xu " 
signifies "Christian." Another hesitates at a 
phrase which, to his eye, seems to read "a par- 
boiled sceptic"; but, as modern methods with 
heretics do not include heated applications, he 
asks those about him what the word is ; perhaps 
goes to the proof-reader with it, — such things 
are done sometimes, — for the compositor ex- 
pects ultimately to conform to the proof-reader's 
decision, — and thus he loses five or ten minutes 
in learning that the word is purblind. Now, 
reverend sir, the compositor's time is his money, 
and if you rob him of his time — the inference is 
obvious. Your better course, henceforth, will 
be to copy your manuscript, or get it copied, in 
a careful, painstaking manner, after all your 
emendations of the text have been made. 

There is a proverb to the effect that lawyers 
are bad penmen ; but we think the proverb un- 

* For this and all other technical terms used in this work 
aea Chapter VII. 



18 PENS AND TYPES. 

just. So far as our experience goes, the hand- 
writing of lawyers compares favorably with that 
of any other class of persons, of whatever pro- 
fession. It is certainly as legible as the mercan- 
tile style; since the latter, although generally 
pretty to look at, is often very difficult to read, 
— -abounding in flourish and ornament, which 
are too often but another name for obscurity. 
Sometimes, too, one meets with clerkly invoices 
or catalogues, containing remarkably fanciful 
capitals : we have seen good readers scarcely 
able to decide whether a given initial were a 
W, an H, or an N. 

But legal gentlemen, like all others, dislike 
the mechanical labor of copying what they have 
once committed to paper. Their arguments, and 
especially their briefs, are sometimes sent to the 
printer in a confused, chaotic mass; in a shape, 
or, rather, with a want of shape, which, if not 
resulting from inconsiderateness, would be — we 
were on the point of saying — disgraceful. A 
manuscript of this sort, covering but six or 
eight pages of letter-paper, sometimes requires 
several hours' labor in reading, correcting, and 
revising, before a presentable proof can be ob- 
tained. 

Legal documents are often interlarded with 
technical terms in law Latin and old French. 
Of course such terms ought to be made as plain 



WRITING FOR THE PRESS. 19 

as prinL Usually the principal divisions of a 
brief are indicated by large Roman numerals in 
the middle of the line ; the points under these 
greater divisions, by Roman numerals at the 
commencement of paragraphs ; smaller divisions, 
by Arabic numerals ; and if still smaller divi- 
sions are required, these are denoted by letters 
in parenthesis, as, (a), (b), (c), etc. In the haste 
of writing, however, it is sometimes found im- 
possible, doubtless, to make so nice distinctions, 
and Arabic numerals are used throughout, while 
no proper care is taken to distinguish the various 
divisions of the subject-matter by varying inden- 
tions.* The faults of the manuscript reappear in 
the proof. This leads to much loss of time "at 
the stone " ; and as such work is frequently hur- 
ried during the sessions of the courts, the delay 
is exceedingly vexatious to all parties concerned. 
If one eighth of the time now spent in correct- 
ing, overrunning the matter, and revising, were 
bestowed upon perfecting the copy, there would 
seldom be any delay in a well-appointed printing 
office. 

When transcripts of records of court are to 
be printed, care should be taken that only the 

* We do not mean "indentation," nor yet " indention, " but 
" indention," as written in the text. The word is in the mouth 
of every printer, proof-reader, author, and publisher : why 
should it not be inserted in the dictionaries? 



20 PENS AND TYPES. 

very documents intended for the press, are sent 
to the printing office. For want of proper atten- 
tion in this matter, it not unfrequently happens 
that certificates of notaries, extraneous docu- 
ments, and duplicates, are put in type, to be 
presently cancelled. 

We have said something above, touching mer- 
cantile handwriting. Constant practice with the 
pen gives facility and boldness of execution, — 
and where these are combined with good taste, 
chirography approaches the dignity of a fine art, 
and produces beautiful effects, and is seen to be 
near of kin to drawing and painting. In signa- 
tures, especially, flourish and ornamentation have 
a double use : they please the eye, and they baffle 
the forger. But when lines stand as near each 
other as in ordinary ruling, the flourish in one 
line interferes with the letters of the next; and 
the elegance of a well-cut capital will scarcely 
excuse its obtrusiveness, when it obliterates its 
more obscure but equally useful neighbors. 

Further, business men, deeply impressed with 
the value of time, learn to delight in abbrevia- 
tions. Types have been cast to meet some of 
these, as the "commercial a" [fa)] and the "per 
cent" [%] ; but the compositor is sometimes put 
to his trumps to cut, from German and job letter, 
imitations of abbreviations which never ought 
to be sent to a printing office as copy. We 



WRITING FOR THE PRESS. 21 

are not astonished that a merchant of Boston 
once received from a Prussian correspondent a 
request, that if he, the Bostonian, were to write 
again, it" might be either in German or in plain 
English. We adopt the spirit of this advice; 
and would say to the banker, the broker, the 
merchant, and to their respective clerks, that 
when they write for the press, they should drop 
ornament, drop pedantic abbreviations, drop Ger- 
man, and write in plain English. 

We do not know that there is anything spe- 
cially characteristic in copy furnished by the 
medical faculty, unless it be that their rela- 
tions of "cases," both in medicine and surgery, 
abound, no doubt necessarily, in " words of 
learned length"; which, being unfamiliar to the 
laity, should be written with conscionable care; 
every letter performing its proper function, and 
duly articulated to its neighbors. But the scien- 
tific terms of their art, as written by most phy- 
sicians, are, to the average printer, as illegible 
as the Greek from which a portion of such terms 
is derived. Recipes are seldom got typographi- 
cally correct, until they have passed through 
three or four revisions. Even apothecaries, it is 
said, sometimes put up morphine instead of mag- 
nesia ; in which case, unless the revising is done 
in a hurry with the* stomach-pump, a jury may 
have something to say about the "illegibility of 



22 PENS AND TYPES., 

the writing." When troublesome consequences 
arise from misapprehension of a Latin word, or 
of its meaning, we hear much said in favor of 
writing recipes in plain English. 

Some years ago (of course such a thing could 
not happen now), a gentleman residing at the 
South End, in Boston, w 7 as furnished by his 
medical adviser with a prescription, containing 
among other ingredients the following : — 

Syr. Scillse 5§ ss. 

Tinct. Ejusdem § i, 

That is, half an ounce of sirup of squills, and 
one ounce of the tincture of the same. With 
this recipe, he went to the nearest apothecary. 
" I cannot put up that medicine for you," said 
the apothecary ; " I have all the ingredients but 
one ; I have no tincture of ejusdem." The gen- 
tleman went to the next drug-store. Its pro- 
prietor said, "I cannot fill that recipe ; I should 
as soon think of undertaking to compound the 
ptisan of Kenilworth's blacksmith. Tincture 
ejusdem ! who ever heard of tincture ejusdem?" 
Disappointed at shop after shop, the gentleman 
at length reached the well-known stand of the 
late Dr. B., at the North End. Without making 
any remark, the doctor proceeded to weigh 
or measure the various ingredients called for. 
" What ! " exclaimed the gentleman, " have you 



WRITING FOR THE PRESS. 23 

got « Tincture eju sclera'! I have been to fifty 
shops, more or less, but not one of thera had it; 
and some pharmacists even averred they had 
never heard of it." — " The recipe," quietly re- 
marked Dr. B., "calls for half an ounce of sirup 
of squills, and one ounce of the tincture of the 
same." — "Then why didn't he write 4 tincture 
of the same,' instead of that stupid * Tinct. Ejus- 
clera'? Here have I walked from home a mile 
and a half, and shall have to return the 'ejusclcm' 
distance, because the doctor didn't write plain 
English." 

But, whatever may be said to the contrary, 
there are weighty and, we think, irrefutable ar- 
guments for continuing the use of Latin and 
Greek terms in medical writings, — even in 
recipes. Since it should be so, and certainty 
is so, we insist here, as elsewhere, that all tech- 
nical terms, proper names, or airy words on 
which the context can throw but little, if any, 
light, should be written not with ordinary, but 
with cavdinavy care, — which new word we haz- 
ard, that our meaning may make a deeper im- 
piession. 

In passing, Ave may remark that the mode of 
indicating names of remedies comes under the 
head of "style" (see Chapter HI.), and varies 
in different offices. . Names of medicines are 
often abbreviated, and set in italics; and'when a 



24 PENS AND TYPES. 

generic word is used, it should be capitalized; 
as, "Dr. S. administered Rhus tox" In homoeo- 
pathic works, the number expressing a dilution 
or trituration is placed in superiors at the right; 
as, "Ordered Cuprum metallicum m ." 

A few suggestions to those who write any kind 
of copy for the press, will close this part of our 
subject. 

Write on only one side of the paper. 

If you wish to make an addition to a page, do 
not write it on the back of the sheet ; cut the 
leaf, and paste the new matter in, just where it 
belongs, being careful not to cover up so much 
as a single letter in doing so ; we have known 
lines to be omitted by the compositor, in conse- 
quence of careless pasting. The leaf having 
thus been lengthened, you may, for the sake of 
convenience, fold the lower edge forward upon 
the writing. This minute direction may seem 
idle ; but when a portion of the leaf has been 
folded backward, out of sight, the folded part 
may very likely escape notice, and, to insert it, 
many pages of matter may afterward require to 
be overrun. 

Abbreviate those words only, which you wish 
the printer to abbreviate. 

Never erase with a lead pencil ; for an erasure 



WRITING FOR THE PRESS. 25 

with lead leaves it questionable whether or not 
the marked word is to go in. Use ink, drawing 
the pen horizontally through the words or lines 
to be omitted ; and be careful that the marking 
leave off on exactly the right word. If you 
afterward regret the cancellation, do not write 
"stefin the margin; for "stet" will probably 
be unnoticed, in the presence of obvious eras- 
ures. The better way is to re-w r rite the pas- 
sage, and paste it in the place you wish it to 
occupy. 

Take time to write plainly and legibly. In 
writing for the press, the old adage holds good, 
— "The more haste, the worse speed"; and for 
every hour you save by writing hurriedly, 
you will be called upon to pay for several 
hours' labor in making corrections. Write join- 
hand : mistakes often arise from a long word 
being broken up, as it were, into two or three 
words. 

I and J are often mistaken for each other. 
Either imitate the printed letters, or uniformly 
carry the loop of the J below the line. 

It is often impossible to distinguish Jan. from 
June, in manuscript, unless the context furnishes 
a clew. 

Whatever may be the divisions of your work 
(as books, chapters, sections, cantos, and the 
like), let your entire manuscript be paged in 



26 PENS AND TYPES. 

the order of the natural series of numbers from 
1 upward. If you commence each division with 
1, — as is sometimes done, — and two or three 
divisions are given out as "takes" to compos- 
itors, it is obvious that portions of one division 
may exchange places with those of another ; and, 
further, if leaves happen to become transposed, 
they can readily be restored to their right places 
if no duplicate numbers are used in indicating 
the pages. 

Make sure that the books, chapters, etc., are 
numbered consecutively. The best proof-reader 
must confess to some unguarded moments ; and 
it would be very awkward, after having had two 
hundred and forty chapters stereotyped, to find 
that two chapter V.'s have been cast, that every 
subsequent chapter is numbered one less than it 
should have been, and that compositor and 
proof-reader have exactly followed copy. 

Examine your manuscript carefully with refer- 
ence to the points. Avoid the dash when any 
other point will answer your purpose. A man- 
uscript that is over-punctuated occasions more 
perplexity than one that is scarcely pointed 
at all. 

Before sending it to press, get your manu- 
script into a shape } r ou can abide by. Altera- 
tions made on the proof-sheet must be paid for, 
— and, further, matter that has undergone alter- 



WRITING FOR THE PRESS. 27 

ations seldom makes a handsome page : some 
lines will appear crowded, others too widely 
spaced. 

If you feel obliged to strike out a word from 
the proof, endeavor to insert another, in the 
same sentence, and in the same line if possible, 
to fill the space. So, if } T ou insert a word of 
words, see whether you can strike out, nearly 
at the same place, as much as you insert. 

In writing a foot-note * let it immediately fol- 

* In many works, the foot-notes, by a slight change 
of arrangement, might advantageously become a portion 
of the text. 

low the line of text which contains the asterisk, 
or other reference-mark ; just as you see in the 
above example, and do not write it at the bottom 
of the manuscript page. The person who makes 
up the matter, will transfer such note to its 
proper place. 

When writing for the press, never use a lead 
pencil. Let your copy be made with black ink 
on good, white paper. We have been pained to 
see page after page of a report to an extensive 
religious association, which report had been in 
the first place wholly written with a lead pencil : 
then words cancelled, words interlined, various 
changes made, — and all these alterations done 
with pen and ink. Of course, sleeve and hand 



28 PENS AND TYPES. 

rubbing over the plumbago, gave the whole a 
dingy and blurred appearance. The effect of the 
ink sprinkled among the faded pencillings was 
so much like that of mending an old garment 
with new cloth, that the manuscript had an 
unchristian, nay, even heathenish aspect. How- 
ever, from this copy the report was printed, — 
let us charitably hope that it did much good in 
the world. 



CHAPTER II. 



PEOOF-READING. 



So long as authors the most accc mplished are 
liable to err, so long as compositors the most 
careful make occasional mistakes, so long as dic- 
tionaries authorize various spellings, just so long 
must there be individuals trained and training 
to detect errors, to rectify mistakes, overrule 
dictionaries, and conserve the English language. 
The experienced proof-reader speaks ex cathedra, 
and submits to no council his claim to infallibil- 
ity ; he lays down rules, but never descends to 
give reasons. In all other callings and profes- 
sions, humility is a virtue ; in proof-reading, it 
is little less than a sin. 

Admitting that a- perfect proof-reader exists, 
he is possessed of all human knowledge and all 
learning; is thoroughly acquainted with all true 
religions, all false religions, all languages, all 
sciences, all arts. If the world is a school, he 
is the head-master; if it be a stage, he is the 

29 



30 PENS AND TYPES. 

prompter and the star. And he knows that all 
else availeth him nothing, unless he can tell at 
sight whether a lead is too thick or too thin, and 
can discriminate between a three-em space and a 
four-em space. 

Invalided teachers and clergymen, educated 
men, and, indeed, literuiy men general]}-, who 
happen to be out of business, often apply for 
situations as proof-readers ; if they can do noth- 
ing else, they fancy that they can at least read 
proof. But however highly cultivated the} r may" 
be, ninety-nine in a hundred of them fail in the 
attempt. All their learning is of no avail in 
wrestling with the difficulties of a first proof. 
Outs and doublets escape them, or seem to be 
enigmas which they cannot solve ; false grammar 
is overlooked ; the c which has usurped the place 
of an e goes by unchallenged ; the turned s 
hisses as they pass, and remains standing on its 
head; and in punctuation they recognize, as 
familiar acquaintances, only the full-point and 
the dash. A practical printer who never beard 
of the digamma, and who never read anything 
but newspapers, will presently step in over their 
heads: for he is at least their equal in spelling, 
and he has been compelled to give some atten- 
tion to the grammatical points. Further, his 
dealing with individual types enables him to see, 
without searching, errors which men far more 



PROOF-READING. 31 

learned than he, do not know enough to seaich 
for ; and his pen pounces on a wrong letter as 
instinctively and uuerringiy as the bird darts on 
its insect prey. 

Sterne has uttered a sneer at the husk and 
shell of learning ; but the best bread is made 
from the whole meal, and includes the "shorts" 
and the " middlings " as well as the fine flour. 
If every lawyer, physician, and clergyman were 
to spend six months at the ''case" before entering 
upon his profession, he would find, even in*that 
short term of labor, a fitting and preparation 
for such literary tasks as may devolve upon 
him, which the schools do not, if they can, 
bestow. 

Nearly all manuscript copy is indebted to the 
compositor and proof-reader for the proper punc- 
tuation ; and many errors in spelling, made by 
men who ought to know better, are silently cor- 
rected in the printing office. Contradictions, 
errors of fact, anachronisms, imperfect sentences, 
solecisms, barbarisms, are modestly pointed out 
to the author by the proof-reader's "quaere," or 
by a carefully worded suggestion : and, most 
usually, the proof is returned without comment, 
— and none is needed, — corrected according to 
the proof-reader's intimations. Dickens, aud a 
few other writers of eminence, have acknowl- 
edged their indebtedness in such cases ; but we 



32 PENS AND TYPES. 

know one proof-reader — whose experience em- 
braces an infinite variety of subjects from bill- 
heads to bibles — who can remember but three 
cases in which his assistance, whether valuable 
or otherwise, was alluded to in a kindly manner. 
On the other hand, the correction in the proof is 
sometimes accompanied by some testy remark ; 
as, " Does this suit you ? " or, " Will it do now f " 
The proof-reader is, however, or should be, per- 
fectly callous to all captious criticisms and foolish 
comments. Let no nervous or touchy man med- 
dle with proof-reading. 

For the especial benefit of our non-professional 
readers, we will here point out the usual routine 
in regard to proofs. The editor or publisher of 
a book or periodical sends to the printer such 
portions of reading-matter or manuscript as he 
can, from time to time, conveniently supply. 
This copy is passed to a head-workman, who, by 
aid of knife and scissors, divides it into a num- 
ber of parts, called " takes," each part being a 
suitable quantity for a compositor to take at one 
time ; and the name of each compositor is pen- 
cilled at the top of his take. The type when set 
up is called " matter." 

When there is enough matter to fill a "galley " 
(a metallic or wooden casing about two feet in 
length), an impression, or " proof," is taken on 
a strip of paper wide enough to receive in the 



PROOF-READING. 83 

margin the correction of such errors as may be 
found. This proof, with the corresponding copy, 
is carried to the proof-reader's desk, often ac- 
companied with the jocose remark, "If there is 
not room enough here to mark all the errors, 
you can paste another piece on." 

If not hurried by a press of work, as may 
sometimes be the case, the reader will first 
glance at the proof as a whole. A variation in 
the thickness of the leads, or a wrong inden- 
tion, will catch his eye quickest in this way. 
Then, still supposing he has time, he will si- 
lently read it through, marking errors in spell- 
ing, turned or inverted letters ; improving the 
spacing, the punctuation ; noting whether the 
heads and sub-heads are in the required type ; 
whether the capitalization is uniform ; whether 
— if the " slip " beneath his eye happen to be 
near the middle of a big book — the word 
" ourang-outang " was not printed somewhere in 
the early part of the work as "orang-outang," 
or, in fact, whether, after some questioning, it 
finally w T ent to press as "orang-utan," — which 
word he must now, to preserve uniformity, hunt 
for and find among his old proofs, if, peradven- 
ture, author or publisher, or other person, have 
not borrowed them "for a few minutes," — alas! 
never to be returned. 

Having settled this, and all similar cases and 
3 



34 PENS AND TYPES. 

other doubtful matters, he hands the copy to an 
assistant, called a " copy-holder," whose duty it 
is to read the copy aloud, while he himself keeps 
his eye on the print (but in newspaper offices, 
for the sake of greater celerity, the reader often 
reads aloud, while the copy-holder follows him 
silently, intent on the copy; interrupting, how- 
ever, whenever any discrepancy is observed). 
If the reader desire the copy-holder to pause 
while he makes a correction, he repeats the word 
where he wishes the reading to stop ; when ready 
to proceed he again pronounces the same word, 
and the copy-holder reads on from that place. 
The various signs used in correcting may be 
found in their appropriate place in this work, — 
for which the table of contents may be consulted. 
If the proof in hand be a reprint, and the new 
edition is to conform to the old, the points, 
capitals, etc., should be pronounced aloud by 
the copy-holder. Take, for instance, the second 
stanza of Tennyson's " Voyage " : — 



11 Warm broke the breeze against the brow, 

Dry sang the tackle, sang the sail : 
The Lady's-hcad upon the prow 

Caught the shrill salt, and sheer'd the gale. 
The broad seas swell'd to meet the keel, 

And swept behind: so quick the ran, 
We felt the good ship shake and reel, 

We seeiu'd to sail into the Sun ! " 



This stanza the copy-holder reads thus : — 



PKOOF-EEADIXG. 35 



Warm broke the breeze against the brow, (com.) 

Dry sang the tackle, (com.) sang- the sail: (colon.) 
The Lady'B-(cap. pos. s, huphen)head upon the prow 

Caught the shrill salt, (com.) and shcer'(pos.)d the gale, (full point.) 
The broad seas swell'(^os.)d to meet the keel, (com.) 

And swept behind : (colon.) so quick the run, (com.) 
We felt the good ship shake and reel, (com.) 

Wc seem'(/ws.)d to sail into the Sun 1 (cap. exclam.) 



The slip is numbered, and marked at top 
"First Proof": the names of the compositors, 
which have been inscribed on their takes, are 
duly transferred to the printed proof, which, with 
the errors plainly noted thereon, is then given 
for correction to the same persons who set up 
the matter. Their duty having been attended 
to, a "second proof" is taken: this the reader 
compares carefully with the first, to ascertain 
whether the requisite changes of type have been 
properly made ; whether " doublets " have been 
taken out, and " outs " put in. If any mark has 
escaped the notice of the compositors, it is trans- 
ferred to the second proof. Close attention 
should be given to this process of "revising" ; 
it is not enough to see that a wrong letter has 
been taken out, and a right one put in ; in the 
line where a change has been made, all the words 
should be compared, — since in correcting an 
error among movable types, some of the types 
may move when they ought not, and get nii/- 
phiced. 

As what escapes the notice of one observer, 



36 PENS AND TYPES. 

may be perceived by another, this second proof 
is again " read by copy " by another proof-reader 
and assistant ; and a second time corrected and 
revised. The "third proof" is now sent to the 
author, editor, or publisher, with so much copy 
as may cover it, the copy-holder being careful, 
however, to retain the "mark-off"; i.e., the 
sheet on which is marked off the place where 
the next "first proof" is to begin. But when 
the work is of such sort as not to require ex- 
traordinary care, the second proof is sent out, a 
single reading by copy being deemed sufficient. 
If the work is read twice by copy, only one 
reader should attend to the punctuation. 

If, now, the copy have been hastily or care- 
lessly prepared, or if the author have gained new 
light since he prepared it, the outside party hav- 
ing charge of the work (whom, for convenience, 
we will designate as the "author") will return 
his proof, full of erasures, additions, alterations, 
interlineations, and transpositions. With these 
the original compositors have no concern ; the 
changes required are made by " the office," and 
the time is charged to the person who contracted 
for the printing of the work. 

A second, third, or even more consecutive 
revises of the same slip are sometimes sent to 
the author, to the intent that he may see for 
himself that his corrections have been duly made, 



PROOF-READING . 37 

and to allow him further opportunity to introduce 
such alterations as to him may seem desirable. 
Usually, however, the work, after the correction 
of the author's first proof, is made up into pages ; 
find when there are enough of these for a " sig- 
nature " or form of octavo, duodecimo, or what- 
ever the number of pages on the sheet may be, 
the proof-reader revises these pages by the au- 
thor's latest returned proof, cuts off the slip at 
the line where the last page ends, and sends the 
folded leaves, labelled " Second," " Third," or 
"Fourth" proof, as the case may be, together 
with the corresponding slips of the next previous 
proof, to the author, as before. The portion of 
slip proof remaining, — termed the "make-up," 
— should be inscribed with the proper page, and 
the letter or figure which is to be the* signature 
of the next sheet, and given, for his guidance, ' 
to the person who makes up the work ; to be 
returned again to the proof-reader, with the other 
slip proofs of the next sheet of made-up pages, 
when that is ready for revision. 

The author may be desirous of seeing a fifth, 
sixth, or, as the algebraists say, any number, n, 
of proofs. When he expresses himself as satis- 
fied with his share of the correcting, the last 
author's proof is corrected, a "revise" taken, 
and the proof-reader gives this last revise a final 
leading for the press. As any errors which 



38 PENS AND TYPES. 

escape detection now, will show themselves in 
the book, this last reading should be careful, 
deliberate, and painstaking. See to it, my 
young beginner, that the "signature" is the 
letter or number next in sequence to that on 
your previous press-proof. See to it, that the 
first page of the sheet in hand connects in read- 
ing with the last page of the previous one, and 
that the figures denoting the page form the next 
cardinal number to that which you last sent to 
press. Having done this, examine the "folios" 
(the "pagination," as some say) throughout; 
read the running titles ; if there be a new 
chapter commenced, look back in your previ- 
ous proofs to make sure that said new chapter 
is "xix.," and not "xvm."; see that the head- 
lines of the chapter are of the right size, and in 
the right font of type ; for, if the " minion " case 
happened to be covered up, the compositor may 
have forgotten himself, and set them up in "bre- 
vier"; if there is rule-work, see that the rules 
come together properly, and are right side up ; 
if there is Federal money, see that the " $ " is 
put at the beginning of the number following a 
rule, and of the number in the top-line of every 
page: if points are used as "leaders," see that 
there are no commas or hyphens among them. 
If the style require a comma before leaders, see 
that none have been left out; if the style reject 



PPwOOF-KEADING. 39 

a comma, see that none have been left in ; in 
short, see to everything, — and then, on the 
corner of the sheet, write the word "Press" as 
boldly as yon can, but with the moral certainty 
that some skulking blunder of author, composi- 
tor, or corrector has eluded all your watch- 
fulness. 

The errors made by ourselves are those which 
occasion us the most pain. Therefore be chary 
of changing anything in the author's last proof. 
If a sentence seem obscure, see whether the in- 
sertion of a comma will make it clear. If you 
find "patonce," do not change it to " potence," 
unless, from your knowledge of heraldry, you 
are aware of a good reason for such an altera- 
tion. If you find pro. ami, look in the diction- 
ary before striking out the point after pro. ; 
peradventure it is a contraction. If, finally, 
after puzzling over some intricate sentence you 
can make nothing of it, let it console you that 
the following paragraph appears in Havernick : 
"Accordingly it is only from this passage that a 
conclusion can be drawn as to the historical con- 
dition of the people, which is confirmed also by 
notices elsewhere " ; and let it content you to 
say in the words of Colenso, "I am at a loss 
to understand the meaning of the above para- 
graph." So let the obscure passage remain. 

Still, however, should you find some gross 



40 PENS AND TYPES. 

error of lutes, some obvious solecism, or some 
wrong footing in a column of figures, and find 
yourself unable to change the reading with abso- 
lute certainty of being right, this proof, which 
you had hoped would be a final one, must be 
returned to the author with the proper qurere. 
When it comes back to your sanctum, you may 
perhaps be pleased at finding on the margin a 
few words complimentary of your carefulness, 
couched, perhaps, in this encomiastic style : 
" Why did not your stupid proof-reader find 
this out before?" 

AVhether reading first or final proofs, you 
should not change the spelling of proper names, 
nor supply omitted words, in printing Records 
of Court ; for the printed record is assumed to 
be an exact transcript of what is written, and 
there should be no alterations, — uniformity is 
not to be sought at the expense of departing 
from copy. Inserting the necessary points where 
these have been neglected, is not considered a 
change of the record, — as, for instance, an in- 
terrogation point after a direct question to a 
witness, — for as " the punctuation is no part of 
the law," a fortiori it is no part of the record. 
If the caption be "Deposition of John Prat," 
and the signature be " John Pratt," and if in 
another place you find the same individual des- 
ignated as "John Pradt," there is no help for it. 



PROOF-READING. 41 

You have no authority to alter the record, and 
must print it as it stands. So, too, in regard to 
dates. If you read "1st Feb. 1871" on one 
page, "Feb. 1, 1871" on another, so let them 
stand, — the change of style is a trifle ; and, if 
it be a fault, it is the fault of the record, and 
not yours. 

And here let us say a word about this matter 
of uniformity : very important in some works, 
in others it is of no consequence whatever, how- 
ever much some readers may stickle for it. If, 
for example, a mass of letters, from all parts of 
the country, recommending a patent inkstand, or 
stating the prospects of the potato crop, are sent 
in to be printed, the dates and addresses will 
vary in style, according to the taste and knowl- 
edge of the several writers ; and there is not the 
slightest need of changing them to make them 
alike, as if all these widely scattered writers had 
graduated from the same school. Let such writ- 
ings be printed as diversely as they come to 
hand. If one writes plough, and another plow, 
what matters it, so far as your proof-reading is 
concerned? If one writes "15th June," and 
another "June 15" or "June 15th," so let it 
stand on the printed page. It is jdle to waste 
time in making things alike, that could not by 
any possibility have been written alike. But 
you can make each letter consistent with itself, 



42 PENS AND TYPES. 

which is all that uniformity requires. You need 
not stretch one man out, and cut off the feet of 
another, to justify them all in your stick. So 
much for exceptional cases. 

As a general rule, study to preserve uniformity 
in every work. If "A. M." and "P. M." are in 
capitals on one page, it will look very like care- 
lessness to have them appear "a. m." and "p.m.," 
in small capitals, on the next. Your only safety 
is to have but one style, and to adhere to it with 
the stiffness of a martinet, in alf contingencies, 
unless overruled by those who have a right to 
dictate in the premises. 



CHAPTER III. 

STYLE. 

Before beginning to read proof, a man usu- 
ally prepares himself by learning how to make 
the technical marks used in correcting; he then 
reads a chapter on the use of capitals ; takes up 
a grammar, and reviews the rules of punctua- 
tion ; and by reading, and conversing with read- 
ers, gets such helps as give him a good degree 
of confidence. But at the very threshold of his 
duties, he is met by a little " dwarfish demon " 
called " Style," who addresses him somewhat 
after this fashion : "As you see me now, so I 
have appeared ever since the first type was set 
in this office. Everything here must be done as 
I say. You may mark as you please, but don't 
violate the commands of Style. I may seem to 
disappear for a time, when there is a great rush 
of work, and you may perhaps bring yourself to 
believe that Style is dead. But do not deceive 
yourself, — Style never dies. When everything 

43 



44 PENS AND TYPES. 

is going merrily, and } T ou are rejoicing at carry- 
ing out some pet plans of your own, you will 
find me back again, tearing the forms to pieces, 
and again asserting my irrevocable authority. 
Stick to m}^ orders, and all will be well. Don't 
tell me of grammarians or lexicographers ; say 
nothing of better ways, or improvements or 
progress. I am Style, and my laws are like 
those of the Mecles and Persians." And Style 
states his true character. 

Unfortunately for the proof-reader, Style sel- 
dom writes his laws; or, if at any time written, 
their visible form presently perishes, and they 
can only be got at, as one may learn the common 
law of England, through past decisions. You, 
my young friend, may in vain consult old proofs ; 
works formerly read, at the desk you now oc- 
cupy, by some vanished predecessor. Your 
searching cannot help you much ; for authors, 
being without the jurisdiction, are independent 
of the authority, of Style, — they may allow 
him to dominate over their works, or they may 
not. How, then, are you to distinguish, and 
select as models, those which were read under 
the direct supervision of Style? In the course 
of a few years you may come to know a portion 
of his laws ; but the whole code is past rinding 
out. 

To drop the personification, every office has a 



45 



style — an arrangement of details — peculiar to 
itself. Ju one, "Government" is spelt with a 
capital; in a second, "government" is spelt 
with a lower-case "g"; in this office, the four 
seasons are always "Spring, Summer, Autumn, 
and Winter"; in that, they are "spring, sum- 
mer," etc., having capitals only when per- 
son ified : and so of a thousand other cases in 
capitalization. In this office, before a quoted 
extract we put a colon and dash, thus : — while, 
in the office across the way, the style is to put a 
colon only: and, a little farther on, is an office 
which uses only the dash ; yet a fourth, round 
the corner, puts a comma and dash, thus, — 
while a fifth undertakes to use all these and even 
additional methods, as the period, the semicolon 
and dash, selecting as the sense, or convenience, 
or caprice may dictate.* Here, the style requires 
a comma before and, in " pounds, shillings, and 
pence"; there, the style is "pounds, shillings 
and pence." "Viz," in Mr. A.'s office, is con- 
sidered a contraction, and is printed "viz." — 
with the period ; in Mr. B.'s office, it is not a 
contraction, and the period is not used; in Mr. 
C.'s office, "viz" is put entirely under the ban, 

* For some varieties of style in introducing quotations, see 
t% Historical Memorials of Westminster Abbey. By Artbur 
Penrbyn Stanley, I). D. London: John Murray, 1868"; es- 
pecially pp. 25G, 257. 



46 PENS AND TYPES. 

and compositors and proof-readers are directed 
to substitute for it the word "namely,*' in all 
cases. As regards orthography, two styles — 
the Worcester and Webster — have, in almost 
all offices, alternate sway; and, as if desiring to 
complicate matters as much as possible, some 
add an "office style." Each "rules a moment; 
chaos umpire sits," etc. 

Suppose half-a-dozen works going through the 
press at the same time, embracing three styles 
orthographic, and four or five styles in capitali- 
zation ; one style which requires turned commas 
at the beginning only, of a quotation, and one 
which requires them at the beginning of every 
line of an extract, — you see at once that a 
proof-reader, so beset, must needs have his 
wits about him. For, notice, the first "slip" 
which comes to hand is in the "Life of John 
Smith"; this is in the Worcester style, and re- 
quires "traveller " and "jeweller" to be spelled 
each with two Is, and "empanel" with one n. 
The next galley-proof to be read is part of the 
"Life of James Smith": this is in the Webster 
style ; and now the reader must change front, 
and see to it that he spells "traveler" and 
"jeweler" with one I each, and "empannel" with 
two 7i s. Now as these works are in the same 
size of type, and are very similar in appearance, 
it would not be strange if now and then the 



47 



styles were to "cross over"; but, observe, the 
third slip, the "Life of William Smith," is 
" office style," requiring " traveler " to be spelled 
with one ?, and "jeweller" with two (very ab- 
surd, but all st} r les have something absurd and 
arbitrary in them), while "impanel" now re- 
pudiates an initial e. Further, the publishers of 
the " Life of John " desire to have it in uniform 
style with their " watch-pocket series," in which 
names of ships were put between quotation- 
marks : the author" of the "Life of James" 
insists, that, in his work, names of ships shall 
not be quoted, and shall be set in roman : the 
"Life of William," being in office style, requires 
names of ships to be in italics. 

Again, each of these works has, at the com- 
mencement of its several chapters, a cast of 
initial letter differing from the style of the other 
two, — the first a two-line plain letter, the second 
a black letter, the third an open-face letter ; and 
still further (there is no "finally"), the "Life of 
John " has " backwards," "forwards," "towards," 
all -with the final s ; and the proof-reader has just 
received from the outside reader of the " Life of 
James," a sharp note, stating that he has stricken 
the s from " towards,'' as many as ten times, and 
coolly assuring the said proof-reader that there 
is no such word as "towards" in the English lan- 
guage. Meanwhile, intermingled with the above 



48 PENS AND TYPES. 

readings, are four Sunday-school books, — A, B, 
C, and D. A and B require the words "every- 
thing'," "anything," and " cannot " to be divided 
respectively into two words, — " every thing," 
" any thing," " can not " ; while C and D, with 
a general direction to follow Webster, want these 
words printed in the usual manner, — closed up. 
A and C must have two words of " 't is," " it 's," 
"don't," "couldn't," "mustn't"; B and D re- 
quire the same, with the exception of "don't," 
which must be made one word. A and D want 
an apostrophe in " won't"; while B and C insist 
that the change from " will not" is so great, that 
" wont " is virtually a new word, wherefore they 
cannot conscientiously permit the apostrophe. 

Among these literary foolishnesses and idle 
discriminations, are inter-readings of pamphlets 
on the leather trade; the Swamptown Directory, 
the copy being the pages of an old edition, pasted 
on broadsides of paper, half the names stricken 
out, and new ones inserted hap-hazard on the 
wide margin, their places in the text indicated 
by lines crossing and re-crossing each other, and 
occasionally lost in a plexus or ganglion ; reports 
of the Panjandrum Grand Slump Mining Com- 
pany, the Glenmutchkin Railway Company, and 
the new and improved Brown Paper Routing 
Company ; Proceedings of the National Wool- 
Pulling Association, and of the Society for 



STYLE. 49 

promoting the Introduction of Water-Gas for 
Culinary and Illuminating Purposes; likewise 
auction-bills, calendars, ball-cards, dunning let- 
ters (some of these to be returned through the 
post-office, the proof-reader's own feathers wing- 
ing the shaft), glowing descriptions of Dyes, 
Blackings, Polishes and Varnishes ; in short, 
proofs of the endless variety of matters which 
constitute the daily pabulum of a book and job 
office, — and in all these, style has its require- 
ments. 

If all this be borne in mind, it will not seem 
surprising, especially when we reflect that all 
individuals in their progress toward a perfect 
civilization are not yet within sight of their 
goal, — it w T ill not seem surprising, if now and 
then an irate brother should rush into the proof- 
reader's presence, exclaiming, " What do you 
mean, sir? I thought I knew something, but it 
appears I don't! Here you have put * Hudson 
street' with a little s, and * Hudson River' with a 
capital II: what sort of work do you call that? " 
Should this occur, the schooled reader has but 
to reply, "That, my dear sir, is the uniform' 
style of this office, — we always 'put things' as 
you have stated," and the questioner is satisfied, 
and apologetically withdraws. 

As no acknowledged literary Dictator has 
arisen since Johnson (if we except Webster), 
4 



50 . PENS AND TYPES. 

and as we have no good grounds to expect one, 
let us hope there may be a convention of the 
learned men of the United States, with full 
powers to legislate upon, and finally settle, all 
questions of orthography, punctuation, and style, 
and authorized to punish literary dissenters, by 
banishment from the Kepublic of Letters. 

Were there a common and acknowledged au- 
thority to which priuter, publisher, proof-reader, 
and author could appeal, the eye, the pen, and 
the press would be relieved of much useless 
labor, and the cost of books would be corre- 
spondingly reduced. 



CHAPTER IV. 



PUNCTUATION. 



As "law is the perfection of reason," so punc- 
tuation is the perfection of common sense. 

The printer and proof-reader are to take for 
granted, that, in every work which falls under 
their supervision, the proper agreement between 
thought and expression has been effected by the 
author. He alone has the right to change the 
words and their collocation ; and, if fairly punc- 
tuated, it is better that the manuscript be, in this 
respect also, closely followed. 

Every person who writes for the press should 
punctuate his work presentably ; but — since the 
majority of jyriters are inattentive to punctua- 
tion — custom and convenience, if not necessity, 
have thrown upon the compositor and proof- 
reader the task of inserting in their proper 
places the grammatical points, that the author's 
meaning may be more readily apprehended. 

51 



52 PENS AND TYPES. 

By the grammatical points we mean the period 
( . ), the colon (:), the semicolon (;)? the 
comma ( , ), the note of interrogation (?), the 
note of -exclamation (!)> and the dash ( — ). 
(Some of these have at times rhetorical uses, 
and are called rhetorical points. But, as our 
purpose is to afford practical aid in the matter 
of punctuation, we shall, for convenience, speak 
of them as grammatical points.) 

We have been often told, that the period de- 
notes the longest pause ; the colon, a pause one 
half the length of the period ; the semicolon, 
a pause one half the length of the colon ; the 
comma, a pause one half the length of the semi- 
colon, etc. ; but, as Greene remarks, "Points are 
used to mark the sense, rather than the pauses ." 

To aid writers and printers in deciding where 
points should be placed, sets of rules have been 
carefully framed. These are of great utility, 
and should be studied by every young person 
who is bent on rushing into print, and by every 
apprentice who is learning the " case." Study- 
ing the rules, and attending to the examples 
under them, habituate the mind to a just discern- 
ment when composing, — in whatever sense this 
word is used. It should be borne in mind, how- 
ever, that a close and slavish adherence to stated 
forms, without ascertaining their bearings in in- 
dividual cases, tends to becloud the judgment, 



PUNCTUATION. 53 

and may cause an author's meaning to be 
obscured, or even concealed, rather than eluci- 
dated. 

Rules of punctuation are laid down briefly in 
almost all Grammars; they have been taught by 
being used as copies in writing-books ; but the 
rules most widely and favorably known are in 
the "Treatise on Punctuation, by John Wilson." 
We know of no work, however, which, in its 
entirety, is adhered to by the generality of read- 
ers and publishers. In books issued by different 
houses will be found great diversity in the 
manner of pointing similar and even the same 
sentences ; and some part of what we have called 
"style" results from the effort of a house to be 
consistent with itself, and to establish a uniform- 
ity among its own issues. 

The English language is probably as near as 
any living language can be, to a state of absolute 
fixity. The American tongue, on the other hand, 
is far from being adjusted on a stable basis. Our 
orthography has undergone recognized changes 
within fifty years ; and the war of the dictiona- 
ries, if more quietty waged than heretofore, is 
still carried on Avith obstinacy if not with deter- 
mination. If one who prides himself on his 
"spelling" may write " cruras " or "crumbs," 
"stanch" or "staunch," without censure, how 
can we expect even the learned among us to 



64 PENS AND TYPES. 

agree on the more recondite subject of punc- 
tuation? 

But as all rules suitable to guide human con- 
duct lie folded up in the golden rule, so all rules 
for pointing sentences, are embraced in this : 
punctuate so as to bring out the author's mean- 
ing. And by their consonance with this great 
rule all special rules must be judged. Yet in 
this, as in all other matters, men differ in their 
judgments ; and we must be content in our di- 
versities, until some modern Lindley Murray 
shall be invested with grammatical infallibility. 

For instance, as to placing a comma between a 
nominative phrase or sentence and the predicate, 
the best authorities differ. Wilson's rule is, — 

" No point or pause-mark is admissible between the 
subject or nominative and the predicate, . . . ." 

The "Practical Grammar," by S. W. Clark, 
A. M., published by A. S. Barnes & Co., New 
York, gives the following rule : — 

" A phrase or sentence used as the subject of a verb, 
requires a comma between it and the verb." 

Of course the examples under the rule exhibit 
a corresponding difference. 

" To be totally indifferent to praise or censure is a real 
defect in character." — Wilson. 

" To do good to others, constitutes an important object 
of existence," ^— Clark. 



PUNCTUATION. 55 

Ingersoll's Grammar (Portland, 1828) and 
Kerl's — which last is now very extensively 
used — a^ree with Clark. Both have the same 
example as Wilson, but pointed as follows : — 

" To be totally indifferent to praise or censure, is a 
real defect in character." 

Goold Brown (Grammar of Grammars) inserts 
the comma. Cobbett's Grammar omits it. 

Take up the first dozen books that come to 
hand, and you will find diversity of practice. 

" The influences which Atterbury had fostered long 
lingered in the precincts." — Stanley s Westminster Abbey. 

" The distinction between transcendental and tran- 
scendent, is observed by our elder divines and philoso- 
phers." — Coleridge's Biographia Literaria. 

" The interruption of friendly relations between Eng- 
land and Spain was the fault ... of the Emperor." — 
Froude's England. 

We prefer the omission of the comma, except 
in those cases where its insertion would prevent 
ambiguity ; as in the quotation above, from 
Stanley's " Westminster Abbey," where there 
should have been a comma after "fostered"; as 
it stands, the word "long" may qualify either 
the word before or after it. 

So, if you examine any number of volumes 
with refereDce to placing a comma before and, 
or, or nor, when three or more words, in the 
same category, are connected, — in some you 



56 PENS AND TYPES. 

will find "Faith, and hope, and charity"; in 
others "Faith and hope and charity!" We have 
just met with the following lines in a well-known 
paper : — 

'* Round and round the atoms fly, 
Turf, and stone, and sea, and sky." 

Wilson's example is (p. 38), — 

" Let us freely drink in the soul of love and beauty 
and wisdom from all nature and art and history." 

In view of these and similar differences of prac- 
tice, and contradiction of rules, one is tempted to 
sa} T , that it is of no "moment whether the commas 
are inserted or not. But, leaving "style" out 
of the question, a proof-reader should endeavor 
to have a reason for every omission he allows, 
and for every insertion he makes. We advise 
him, then, in the first place to note which method 
seems required by the golden rule of elucidating 
the meaning ; then consider, further, if the sen- 
tence already contains commas, whether insert- 
ing more would offend the eye. Let him decide 
each case on its own merits ; leaning, when in 
doubt, in favor of such grammatical rule as he 
may have adopted. But use judgment; for the 
most precise grammarians lay down pages of 
exceptions ; and Cobbett (Grammar, Letter xiv.) 
cannot be gainsaid when he writes, "It is evident, 
that, in many cases, the use of the comma must 
depend upon taste." 



PUNCTUATION. 57 

"When a phrase or clause, in its nature paren- 
thetic, is quite closely connected with the parts 
of the sentence in which it is placed, the inser- 
tion of the comma before and after such phrase 
or clause, "must depend upon taste." If in- 
serted, we have a specimen of what is called 
" close pointing"; if omitted, we have "liberal 
pointing." 

Close pointing prevails in almost all publica- 
tions except law-work, and in all doubtful cases • 
puts in the comma. Liberal pointing, on the 
other hand, omits the points except when abso- 
lutely necessary to avoid ambiguity. Lawyers 
use as few points as possible, often leaving the 
meaning in doubt, through fear, perhaps, of 
breaking a well-rounded period into discon- 
nected fragments. 

A middle course, retaining the spirit rather 
than adhering to the letter of the rules, will be 
found the safest. When, as will often be the 
case, a passage occurs, the meaning of which 
varies with the insertion or omission of a comma 
while it would be grammatical either way, the 
compositor should follow the copy; the proof- 
reader should mark the passage with his quaere ; 
but if he first notices the fault when reading the 
press-proof, he should suffer it to stand as the 
author left it, letting all responsibility remain 
wheie it rightfully belongs. 



58 „ PENS AND TYPES. 

Abbreviated words, besides the period denot- 
ing their abbreviation, require the same pointing 
as if they were spelled in full. Thus " Jno. 
Smith, Esq., of Worcester; Abel Soane, M. D. ; 
and James Doe, LL. D., — were appointed a 
comm. to take care of books, docs., etc., etc.," 
has the same pointing as "John Smith, Esquire, 
of Worcester; Abel Soane, Doctor of Medi- 
cine ; and James Doe, Doctor of Laws, — were 
appointed a committee to take care of books, 
documents, and so forth, and so forth." But in 
some classes of work, as Directories, Catalogues 
of books, Genealogies, and where titles and 
abbreviations are of frequent occurrence, double 
pointing may be partially avoided by omitting 
the comma after a period which denotes an 
abbreviation. 

Neatness requires the omission of the comma 
before leaders ; thus, 

John Roe New Orleans. 

James Doe San Francisco. 

is more pleasing to the eye than 

John Roe, New Orleans. 

James Doe, San Francisco. 

The semicolon should be placed before as, viz., 
namely, etc. ; not after, as we too often see it. 
Thus : 

There are four seasons ; namely, spring, summer, 
autumn, winter. 



PUNCTUATION. 59 

Incorrect. There are four seasons, namely; spring, 
summer, autumn, winter. 

But when viz., or namely, ends a paragraph, 
a different mode of pointing prevails; as, — 

" The books and exercises of the several classes shall 
be as follows, viz. : — 

" Class 4. — Worcester's Spelling-Book," etc. 

" Sealed proposals will be received for wrappers for 
this Department for four years from the first of July, 
1871, namely: — 

"No. 1. Note size. 
No. 2. Letter size," etc. 

The hyphen is used to connect the parts of a 
compound word ; to show the divisions of words 
into syllables ; it is placed at the end of a line 
when a word is not finished ; and it is sometimes 
placed between vowels to show that they belong 
to different syllables (as "co-ordinate"). In 
regard to its use in compound words great diver- 
sity exists ; and the proof-reader can have, as we 
believe, no fixed system which will apply to all 
varieties of work. In specifications for bridges, 
buildings, etc., the better way is to avoid com- 
pounding; for, in everything of that kind, one 
will find so many "door-sills," "newel-posts," 
"stair-balusters," "pulley-stiles," etc., that if he 
begin marking in the hyphens he will scarcely 
make an end of it, and many hyphens sadly 



60 PENS AND TYPES. 

deform a page : better put " door knobs," " win- 
dow frames," "stair nosings," etc. 

Here, too, the dictionaries can scarcely be said 
to assist, if they do not even mislead. Worces- 
ter has "brickwork," " brasswork," without hy- 
phens; "wood-work," " iron-work^" with them. 
"Greenhouse" is closed up, while "school-house" 
is not : "wood-house " has a hyphen, "almshouse" 
has none. (Wilson writes "schoolhouse.") Web- 
ster has "brick-work" with, " woodwork" with- 
out the hyphen, — just reversing Worcester. 
Again, Worcester writes, "bumblebee" and "bum- 
blebee": Webster, under B, has "bumble-bee, 
.... sometimes called humble-bee" ; and, under 
H, writes "humblebee, .... often called bum- 
blebee," apparently forgetful of his previous hy- 
phens. 

To search for authority, then, in the matter of 
compounding words, will avail next to nothing. 
In a volume containing " School Committees' Re- 
ports," — and certainly school committees ought 
to know many things, — we find "blackboard" and 
"black-board"; and, on a single page, "school 
books," "school-keeping," "schoolmaster," "school- 
houses," "school checks." "Semi-annual" is fre- 
quently printed with the hyphen, according to 
Webster: but Worcester has "semiannual." 

Thus it appears, that, in regard to compound- 
ing (by which we mean inserting the hyphen 



PUNCTUATION. 6 1 

between the parts of a compound word), the 
proof-reader is left to his own discretion, and 
can do very much as he pleases. He should, 
however, adopt some method by which he can 
approximate to uniformity in his own work ; 
for as to agreeing with anybody else, that is 
out of the question. 

Perhaps as good a rule as can be laid down on 
this subject is to close up the word when com- 
pounding changes the accentuation ; otherwise, 
insert the hyphen. Thus, "Quartermaster" has 
a different accentuation from the two words 
" quarter master " ; therefore make one ward 
of it, without the hyphen: "Head-assistant" is 
accented like the two words " head assistant," 

— therefore insert the hyphen.. By this rule 
"schoolhouse" and "blackboard" should be sev- 
erally closed up: "salt-mine" takes the hyphen, 

— " saltsea " (adjective) does not. 

The word "tree," with a prefix indicating the 
kind, should be compounded; as, "oak-tree," 
"forest-tree," "pine-tree," etc. (Webster has 
" whiffle-tree," Worcester " whiffletree.") 

"Cast-iron" and " wrought-irou" are usually 
compounded, and should always be so when used 
as adjectives; as, ^cast-iron pillars," " wrought- 
iron boilers." 

"Temple-street place" (or "Place," according 
to style), "Suffolk-street District," "Pemberton- 



62 PENS AND TYPES. 

square School," are quite correct; the hyphen is 
too frequently omitted in such cases. 

The proof-reader often strikes a hyphen from 
between the words "ex officio." 

A prolific source of trouble in correcting is 
wrong syllabication when it becomes necessary 
to carry part of a word to the succeeding line. 
Neither the English method of dividing on vow- 
els, where this can be conveniently done, nor the 
American method of dividing on syllables, ob- 
tains exclusively in this country. Convenience, 
and the desire of spacing in such a manner as to 
make the lines look well, frequently determine 
the dividing letter ; so that, in the same work, 
you may find " pro-perty " and " prop-erty," 
"trea-sure" and " treas-ine." In a recent Eng- 
lish work, we note the following divisions: 
Pre-bendaries, mea-sure, pre-decessors, supre- 
macy, the Re-formation, pro-perty, theo-logy, 
bre-thren, pre-paration. 

But the division on the syllable is the mode 
most generally practised in the United States, 
and we must, however reluctantly, adhere to it 
as closely as possible, until a convention of 
publishers shall sanction the adoption of the 
English usage. Our authorities close the first 
syllable of " fa-ther " on the a, of " moth-er " 
on the th, so that, practically, the latter word 



PUNCTUATION. 63 

should not be divided at all ; the English printer, 
without hesitation, places the lryphen after the a 
and the o respectively. 

As to the word " discrepancy " there is a dis- 
crepancy. Webster accents the second syllable, 
and divides " discrep-ancy " ; while Worcester 
accents the first syllable, and divides " discre- 
pancy." In this, printers and readers must be 
governed by the "style " of the work upon which 
they are engaged. 

One of the most frequently recurring errors 
noticed in reading first proof, is the placing of 
an s at the end of a line when it should have 
been carried over. Corres-pondence, des-cribe, 
des-cription, Aus-tralian, are wrong, and are 
corrected daily ; and their reappearance proves 
that in this, as in weightier matters, "error is 
wrought by want of thought." 

In newspapers, or any work which is to be 
read once and then cast aside, the carrying over 
of an ed or Zy, or any other syllable of two let- 
ters, may perhaps be tolerated ; but in book- 
work such a division is inexcusable, except in 
side-notes, or when the measure is very narrow* 
To avoid extremely wide or thin spacing, and to 
escape the trouble and expense of overrunning 
pages already imposed, it must be considered 
admissible, in certain cases, to carry over a con- 
sonant preceding the final syllable ed ; as, expec- 



64 PENS AND TYPES. 

ted, divi-cled. We state this with some misgiv- 
ings ; but, as we have known it to be clone by 
excellent readers and skilful printers, we lay it 
down as allowable in extreme cases. An author 
can sometimes much improve the appearance of 
a page, by slight changes in the phraseology. 

A good compositor studies to avoid divisions. 
Some printers, rather than divide a word, will 
justify a line by separating the words with two 
three-em spaces. But no arbitrary rule can be 
laid clown in this regard. A well-spaced page 
with several divided words looks much better 
than a page unevenly spaced in which no divi- 
sions occur. The number of hyphens occurring 
in succession at the end of the lines on any page, 
should never exceed three. 

In manuscript the dash occurs more frequently 
than any other mark of punctuation, many writ- 
ers using it as a substitute for every other point. 
This habit very much retards the compositor in 
his task; for, as we have already intimated, he 
feels obliged to study the sense of his copy, and 
to waste his valuable time in considering how 
he shall best supply those aids to meaning which 
the author has rejected, and without which any 
work would be wholly unpresentable. 

That the author of the paragraph quoted below, 
pointed it with perfect accuracy before sending 



PUNCTUATION. 65 

it to press, does not admit of a doubt. For the 
nonce, however, we will, with his leave, punctu- 
ate the passage in the manner in which the com- 
positor frequently finds passages pointed on his 
" takes " ; thus : — 

" It has been said — and — no doubt — truthfully — 
that the smartest boys do not go to college. Yet — it is 
evident — to every one competent to judge — that the 
ablest men have been at college." 

With so many dashes before him, it would not 
be strange if the compositor were to retain some 
of them ; and the proof might, perhaps, appear 
as follows : — 

" It has been said — and no doubt truthfully — that 
the smartest boys do not go to college. Yet it is evident 
to every one competent to judge, that the ablest men 
have been at college." 

This is much improved ; and, if we substitute 
commas for the dashes in the first sentence, the 
punctuation may be considered unobjectionable. 

Beginners at the "case" are often puzzled in 
regard to the insertion of commas before the 
dashes which enclose a parenthetic clause. To 
decide this point, it is enough to notice whether 
or not a comma would be used, were the paren- 
thetic clause omitted. This, we think, will be 
readily understood by reference to the follow- 
ing examples. 
5 



CO PENS AND TYPES. 

" It was necessary not only that Christianity should 
assume a standard absolutely perfect, but that it should 
apply a perfect law to those complex and infinitely diver- 
sified cases which arise when law is violated." 

Now, if a parenthetic clause is inserted before 
the word " but," the comma should be retained, 
and another placed at the end of the inserted 
clause ; thus : — 

" It was necessary, not only that Christianity should 
assume a standard absolutely perfect, — which, however, 
far from anything that man has ever done, would be 
comparatively easy, — but that it should apply a perfect 
law," etc. 

If there is no comma where the clause is to be 
inserted, dashes alone should be used: — 

" In the completed volume of the third report, the 
countries wherein education has received the most at- 
tention are treated of at length." 

If a parenthetic clause be inserted after "coun- 
tries," — where there is no comma, — only dashes 
are required ; thus : — 

" In the completed volume of the third report, the 
countries — Prussia, for instance — wherein education 
has received the most attention are treated of at length." 

A thin space should be placed beforehand also 
after, a dash. 

If a parenthesis is inserted in a part of a sen- 
tence where no point is required, no poiut should 



PUNCTUATION. 67 

be placed before or after the marks of paren- 
thesis. 

*' By living sparingly, and according to the dictates of 
reason, in less than a year I found myself (some persons, 
perhaps, will not believe it) entirely freed from all my 
complaints." — \_Cornaro. 

As a general rule, if the parenthesis occur 
after a punctuated clause, the point should be 
placed after the latter mark of parenthesis. 

" Popham's monument, by the intercession of his 
wife's friends (who had interest at Court), was left in 
St. John's Chapel on condition either of erasing the 
inscription, or turning it inwards." 

" Artist : Kneller (1723). Architects : Taylor (1788) ; 
Chambers (1796) ; Wyatt (1813)." 

" Antiquities of St. Peter's, by J. Crull (usually signed 
J. C.)." 

If a parenthesis which closes with a note of 
exclamation or interrogation, is inserted where a 
point occurs, that point should precede the first 
mark of parenthesis. 

" Where foresight and good morals exist, (and do they 
not here ?) the taxes do not stand in the way of an in- 
dustrious man's comforts." 

" He directed the letter to Gnat Smith, (spelling Nat 
with a G !) and deposited it in a fire-alarm box." 

An exclamation point is often found preceding 
the first mark of parenthesis. 



68 PENS AND TYPES. 

'* Ay, here now ! (exclaimed the Critic,) here come 
Coleridge's metaphysics ! " — \_Biographia Literaria. 

" I am, sir, sensible " — " Hear ! Hear ! " (they cheer 
him.) 

When a parenthesis occurs within a parenthe- 
sis, brackets should be substituted for the first 
and last parenthetic marks. 

" As for the other party [I mean (do not misunder- 
stand me) the original inventor], he was absent from the 
country, at that time." 

" Brackets are generally used .... to enclose 
an explanation, note, or observation, standing by 
itself." — [Parker's Aids. 

A short comment inserted in a paragraph by a 
reviewer, is placed in brackets. 

" The sacks were badly eaten by rags [so in the affida- 
vit], and the almonds had run out." 

In transcripts of trials at law, brackets are 
used to enclose statements of things done in 
court, which things would not appear in a report 
of the verbal proceedings alone ; as, — 

" Ans. About a quarter past ten, he came into my 
shop, and picked out a cane 

" Gore. Of what wood was it made ? 

" Ans. It was a good piece of hickory — heavy for 
hickory 

" [The stick was handed to the witness, who declared 
it to be the same he had sold Mr. Charles Austm.] 



PUNCTUATION. 6U 

" Goto.. What sticks had he usually bought of you ? " 

— IT rial of Self ridge. 

Whether the words in brackets should also be 
in italics is a matter of style. In the following 
passage from the same report, italics are used. 

" Gore. [Shewing the fracture of the hat on the fore- 
part.'] Is not that the fore-part of the hat, as this 
leather [that on the hinder part] marks the part of the 
hat that is worn behind ? " 

For inserting commas or other points after, 
before, or within brackets, the same rules apply 
as in case of marks of parenthesis. 

Whether when a noun singular terminates in 
s, its possessive case requires an additional s, is 
yet an open question. We have no hesitation in 
giving an affirmative answer, especially in the 
case of proper names. If Mr. Adams were to 
manufacture ale, one might, perhaps, from pro- 
hibitory considerations, advise him to advertise 
it as " Adams' ale " ; but should Mr. Adams have 
no fear of the law, he would avoid all misun- 
derstanding by calling it "Adams's ale." It may 
be objected that the position of the apostrophe 
makes the matter sufficiently clear without the 
additional s. Yes, — to the eye; but to the 
ear the propriety of the additional s becomes 
very apparent. "Jacob's pillow" and "Jacobs's 



70 PENS AND TYPES. 

pillow " may be of very different materials. But, 
to avoid too much sibilation, we read "for con- 
science' sake," "for goodness' sake," etc. 

The apostrophe, with s subjoined, is used to 
denote the plural of letters and figures. 

" The discipline which is imposed by proving that 
some xs are some ys, and that other xs are all ys, will 
enable you to pulverize any hot-headed deacon who may 
hereafter attempt to prove that you had better be looking 
out for another pastorate." — \_Ad Clerum. 

" This 7 differs from the other 7's." 

The apostrophe may be used in denoting the 
plural whenever its use will assist in avoiding 
obscurity. 

" The children called loudly for their pa's and ma's." 

We append a series of rules, which, we think, 
may be found useful to such writers, composi- 
tors, and proof-readers, as have not time or in- 
clination to study more elaborate works. 



PUNCTUATION. 71 

RULES OF PUNCTUATION. 

I. PERIOD, OR FULL POINT. 

i. The period is used at the end of every 
c* jiplete sentence which is not interrogative or 
exclamatory. 

2. Sentences interrogative and exclamatory in 
form, sometimes take the period. 

Will you call at my office, say on Tuesday next, or 
whenever you happen to be in town, and much oblige 

Yours truly, John Smith. 

How much better it is, considering the saving of dis- 
tance to the pupils, that two small schoolhouses should 
be built, rather than one large one. 

3. The period is put after initials when used 
alone ; also after abbreviations. 

J. Q,. Adams. Supt. of R. R. A. M. 

4. Place a period before decimals, and be- 
tween pounds and shillings. 

The French metre is 3.2808992 feet. 

£24. 6s. 8d. 5.75 miles. 

5. A period should always be put after Ro- 
man numerals, except when used in the paging 
of prefaces, etc. 

George III. came to the throne in 1760. 



72 PENS AND TYPES. 



II. COLON. 

6. A colon is put at the end of a clause com- 
plete in sense, when something follows which 
tends to make the sense fuller or clearer. (3ee 
Rules 9 and 13.) 

In free states no man should take up arms, but with a 
view to defend his country and its laws : he puts off the 
citizen when he enters the camp ; but it is because he is 
a citizen, and would continue to be so, that he makes 
himself for a while a soldier. — Blackstones Commen- 
taries, Booh I. Ch. 13. 

7. The last of several clauses that introduce a 
concluding remark or sentiment, should be fol- 
lowed by a colon, if the preceding clauses have 
been punctuated with semicolons. 

A pickpocket in every car ; a cheat at every station ; 
every third switch on the road misplaced ; the danger of 
being hurled from the track, and then burned alive : 
these considerations prevent my travelling on the railroad 
of which you speak. 

Observation 1. In examples like the above, a very com- 
mon and perhaps better method is to put a comma and dash 
in place of the colon. The colon is neater, but more old- 
fashioned. 

8. The colon is commonly used whenever an 
example, a quotation, or a speech is introduced. 

The Scriptures give us an amiable representation of 
the Deity in these words : " God is love." 



PUNCTUATION. 73 

Obs. 2. Modern writers, instead of the colon, mostly use the 
semicolon, dash, or period. Our first example under Rule 9 
— with a colon substituted for the semicolon — might with 
propriety have been placed under Kule 6. We prefer the 
semicolon, however; and if the word for were inserted in the 
example mentioned, the colon would be inadmissible : 

•* Let there be no strife between theology and science ; for there 
need be none." 

In reprinting old works, the colon should be carefully re- 
tained, as essential to a clear understanding of them. 

The colon is generally placed after as follows, the following, 
in these words, thus, or any other word or phrase which for- 
mally introduces something; and it is usually followed by a. 
dash when the matter introduced forms a distinct paragraph. 



III. SEMICOLON. 

9. When two or more clauses of a sentence 
are not so closely connected as to admit the use 
of a comma, a semicolon is used. 

Let there be no strife between theology and science ; 
there need be none. 

Wisdom hath builded her house ; she hath hewn out 
her seven pillars ; she hath killed her beasts ; she bath 
mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. 

10. When a number of particulars depend on 
an introductory or a final clause, such particulars 
may be separated from- each other by a semi- 
colon. 

There are three difficulties in authorship : to write 
anything worth the publishing; to get honest men to 
publish it ; and to get sensible men to read it. 



74 PENS AND TYPES. 

To present a general view of the whole Vedic lit- 
erature ; to define its extent ; to diyide it into well- 
distinguished classes of writings ; to portray the cir- 
cumstances of their origin, and the stage of cultural 
development which they represent ; and to explain the 
method of their preservation and transmission to us, — 
were some of the objects which Muller had in view. 

11. Loosely connected clauses of a sentence 
should be separated by semicolons, if those 
clauses or any of them are subdivided by com- 
mas. 

As the rays of the sun, notwithstanding their velocity, 
injure not the eye by reason of their minuteness ; so the 
attacks of envy, notwithstanding their number, ought 
not to wound our virtue by reason of their insignifi- 
cance. 

Obs. 3. In the first sentence of the following example, a 
comma between the clauses is sufficient, because there are no 
points in the clauses ; but the second sentence may serve to 
illustrate Eules 11 and 12. 

As there are some faults that have been termed faults on the 
right side, so there are some errors that might be denominated 
errors on the sale side. Thus, we seldom regret having been too 
mild, too cautious, or too humble ; but we often repent having been 
too violent, too precipitate, or too proud. 

12. When two clauses not closely dependent 
on each other, are connected by but, for, and, 
or some similar connective, they are separated 
by a semicolon. 

I will not be revenged, and this I owe to my enemy ; 
but I will remember, and this I owe to myself. 



PUNCTUATION. 75 

A wise minister would rather preserve peace than gain 
a victory ; because he knows that even the most success- 
ful war leaves nations generally more poor, always more 
profligate, than it found them. 

Ingratitude in a superior is very often nothing more 
than the refusal of some unreasonable request ; and if 
the patron does too little, it is not unfrequently because 
the dependant expects too much. 

13. Phrases are often set off by a semicolon, 
viz. : 

a. Explanatory phrases. 

There remain to us moderns, only two roads to suc- 
cess ; discovery and conquest. 

b. Participial and adjective phrases. 

I have first considered whether it be worth while to say 
anything at all, before I have taken any trouble to say it 
well ; knowing that words are but air, and that both are 
capable of much condensation. 

These roads are what all roads should be ; suitable for 
light carriages, and for heavy-laden wagons. 

c. Any phrase, especially if elliptical, or if 
divisible into smaller portions by commas. 

(Obs. 4. In speaking or in writing, we " almost always leave 
out some of the words which are necessary to a full expression 
of our meaning. This leaving out is called the ellipsis.") 

John Milton; born Dec. 9, 1608 ; completed Para Use 
Lost, 1665; died Nov. 10, 1674. 



76 PENS AND TYPES. 



IV. COMMA. 

14. Repeated words or expressions; three or 
more serial terms ; two unconnected serial terms, 
■ — are separated from each other by the comma. 

a. Repeated words or expressions. 

Shut, shut the door. 

I, I, I, I itself, I, 
The inside and outside, the what and the why, 
The when and the where, and the low and the high, 
All I, I, I, I itself, I. 
Give me back, give me back the wild freshness of morn- 
ing. 

b. Three or more serial terms. 

Shakspeare, Butler, and Bacon have rendered it ex- 
tremely difficult for all who come after them, to be sub- 
lime, witty, or profound. 

The firm of Smith, Longman, Jones, Llewellyn, & Co. 

c. Two unconnected serial terms. 
He had a keen, ready wit. 

Obs. 5. The second example under a ("The inside and out- 
side, the what and the why,"), furnishes an illustration of the 
mode of punctuating terms joined in pairs. 

Obs. 6. Style sometimes requires the omission of the comma 
before and, or, nor, when one of these connectives precedes 
the last term of a series : as, " Shakspeare, Butler and Bacon 
have rendered it extremely difficult for all who come after them 
to be sublime, witty or profound." But when the words are all 
in the same predicament, the comma should be iaserted; e. g., 



PUNCTUATION. 7 7 

— if you wish to state that three certain persons are wise, you 
would point thus : 

" Thomas, Richard, and John are wise." 

But if Richard and John are the Solons, and you wish to inform 
Thomas of that fact, you would point thus : 

" Thomas, Richard and John are wise." 
So, in the first example under b, if it is desired to qualify the 
three adjectives by the phrase "in the highest degree," the 
comma after witty must stand: "in the highest degree sub- 
lime, witty, or profound." But if that phrase is intended to 
apply to sublime only, the pointing should be thus : "in the 
highest degree sublime, witty or profound." 

15. Phrases, clauses, and words, inverted, or 
otherwise not in their natural position, generally 
require to be set oft* by a comma. 

Into this illustrious society, my friend was joyfully 
received. 

When we quarrel with ourselves, we are sure to be 
losers. 

To satisfy you on that point, I will make a short ar- 
gument. 

He, like thn world, his ready visit pays, 
Where fortune smiles. 
Roe, Richard. Doe, John. 

Ons. 7. The exceptions to this rule are numerous. If the 
first and last words of a passage are related (for him the sum- 
mer wind murmured) ; if the inverted phrase be brief, and can 
be read in close connection with what follows (in youth we 
have little sympathy with the misfortunes of age) ; or if the 
principal clause is itself inverted (In the centre of the common 
rises a noble monument), — the comma is usually omitted. 

Obs 8. In long lists of proper names, as Directories, &c, it 



78 PENS AND TYPES. 

is usual to omit the comma, although the names are trans- 
posed, and to print thus : 

Smith James W. 

Thomson Theophilus. 

16. When the principal sentence is broken to 
receive an incidental or parenthetic expression, a 
comma is placed at the break, and another at the 
end of the inserted clause. 

Rulers and magistrates should attempt to operate on 
the minds of their respective subjects, if possible, by 
reward iaiker than punishment. 

•Some writers, in a vain attempt to be cutting and dry, 
give us only that which is cut and dried. 

It is known to every physician, that, whatever lazy 
people may say to the contrary, early rising tends to 
longevity. 

Go, then, where, wrapt in fear and gloom, 
Fond hearts and true are sighing. 

The most common parenthetic expressions are at least, at 
most, accordingly, as it were, beyond question, consequently, 
doubtless, furthermore, generally speaking, in the mean time, 
on the other hand, etc. 

17. Words or phrases expressing contrast, or 
emphatically distinguished, and terms having a 
common relation to some other term that fol- 
lows them, require the comma. 

a. Contrast or notable difference. 

His style is correct, yet familiar. 

I asked for money, not advice. 

'Twas fat, not fate, by which Napoleon fell. 



PUNCTUATION. 79 

.Although Prince Hohenlohe was far more specific in 
pointing out what ought to be avoided than in showing 
what ought to be done, yet there could be no mistaking 
the course which the government was intending to 
pursue. 

They are charitable, not to benefit the poor, but to 
court the rich. 

Obs. 9. Two contrasted words having a common depend- 
ence, and connected by but, though, yet, or as well as, should 
not be separated ; as, There are springs of clear but brackish 
water. 

b. Terms having a common relation to a suc- 
ceeding term. 

Ordered, That the Committee on Banking be, and 
they hereby are, instructed to report a bill. 

That officer was not in opposition to, but in close alli- 
ance with, thieves. 

Obs. 10. Some proof-readers, however, omit the second 
comma, when but a single word follows the latter proposition; 
as, ' ; Many states were in alliance with, and under the pro- 
tection of Rome." The better method is to insert the point. 
" [Bonner was] an accomplished Italian, and probably also a 
Spanish, scholar." — [Froude. 

18. Correlative terms, or expressions having 
a reciprocal relation, are separated by a comma. 

The farther we look back into those distant periods, 
all the objects seem to become more obscure. 

The more a man has, the more he wants. 

As he that knows how to put proper words in proper 
places evinces the truest knowledge of books, so he that 



80 PENS AND TYPES. 

knows how to put fit persons in fit stations evinces the 
truest knowledge of men. 

It is not so difficult a task to plant new truths, as to 
root out old errors. 

Where MacDonald sits, there is the head of the tahle. 

Cincinnatus and Washington were greater in their 
retirement, than Caesar and Napoleon at the summit 
of their ambition ; since it requires less magnanimity to 
win the conquest, than to refuse the spoil. 

Obs. 11. When as or than, so that, or such that are used, 
the connection is generally too close to admit the comma. 

Cromwell's enemies say that he always fought with more sincerity 
than he prayed. 
Your house is larger than mine. 
Paper is not so good as gold. 

The old gentleman is so infirm that he can scarcely move. 
He told such a story that we were all deceived by it. 

19. Words used in direct address, and inde- 
pendent and absolute words, with what belongs 
to them, are separated from the rest of the sen- 
tence by commas. 

Q. You say, Mr. Witness, that you were present ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes. 

My son, give me thy heart. 

At length, having fought the good fight, he left, the 
world in peace. 

To confess the truth, I was in fault. 

Richard Roe, his father being dead, succeeded to the 
estate. 



PUNCTUATION. 81 

Silence having been obtained, the speaker went on 
with his remarks. 

20. The clauses of a compound sentence may 
be separated by a comma when the connection is 
too close for the semicolon. 

The winds roared in the woods, and the torrents tum- 
bled from the hills. 

Hasten to your homes, and there teach your children 
to detest the deeds of tyranny. 

It has, by some grammarians, been given as a rule, to 
use a comma to set off every part of a compound sen- 
tence, which part has in it a verb not in the infinitive 
mode. 

Obs. 12. A dependent clause should be separated by a 
comma, unless closely connected. 

It argues a defect of method, when an author is obliged to write 
notes upon his own works. 

Unless we hurry to the beach, the tide will overtake us. 

"Whatever reception the present age may give this work, we rest 
satisfied with our endeavors to deserve a kind one. 

When the Tartars make a Lama, their first care is to place him in 
a dark corner of the temple. 

Obs. 13. If a clause beginning with as, because, if, wher- 
ever, how, lest, than, that, when, where, whether, while, why, 
or any adverb of time, place, or manner, is put last, and is 
closely connected in sense with what precedes, it is not set off 
by a comma : " He went away when the boat left." " We love 
him because he first loved us." " lie will pay if he is able." 
"Tell me whether you will return." 

Obs. 14. An infinitive phrase closely connected with what it 
modifi?s, should not be set off by a comma; as, " We use lan- 
guage to express our thoughts." "Nouns do not vary their 

6 



82 PENS AND TYPES. 

endings to denote certain cases." But if the infinit:*vc phrase 
is preceded by in order, or if it is remote from what it modi- 
fies, it should be set off by a comma. " He collected a, great 
many young elms from various parts of England, to adorn 
his grounds." " If dissimulation is ever to be pardoned, it is 
that which men have recourse to, in order to obtain situations 
which will enlarge their sphere of general usefulness." 

21. A word or phrase used in apposition, to 
explicate or illustrate a previous word or phrase, 
should be set off by commas ; but if the words 
in apposition constitute a single phrase or a 
proper name, they should not be separated. 

a. Comma required. 

Johnson, that mighty Caliban of literature, is held up 
to view in the pages of Bos well. 

The alligator, or cayman, is found in the Orinoco. 

Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, was eminent f.^r his 
zeal and knowledge. 

b. Comma not required. 

Johnson the lexicographer completed his dictionary in 
seven years. 

We the undersigned agree to pay the sums set against 
our names respectively. 

Jeremy the prophet commanded them that were carried 
away to take of the fire, as it hath been signified. 

I Paul have written it with mine own hand. 

The poet Chaucer lived in the reign of Richard II. 

Sir Robert Walpole understood two grand secrets of 
state ; the power of principal, and the weakness of prin- 
ciple. 



PUNCTUATION. 83 

22. A simple sentence usually requires no 
point except the period at the end of it. 

Count Bismarck lias preserved a pleasant intimacy 
with his old preceptor. 

Obs. 15. When the subject is a clause ending with a verb, 
or with a noun that might be mistaken for the nominative, a 
comma should be inserted before the predicate. 

That winter campaigns are undertaken, shows a desire to kill the 
Indians. 

Captain Smith's obedience to orders, issued in his promotion. 

Every year that is added to the age of the world, serves to lengthen 
the thread of its history. 

He that gives a portion of his time and talent to the investigation 
of mathematical truth, will come to all other questions with a de- 
cided advantage over his opponents. 

Obs. 16. Whether a comma should be inserted after the verb 
to be, when that verb is followed by an infinitive clause which 
might by transposition be made the nominative, is a question 
on which the best authorities differ. 

First Method. — The highest art of the mind of man is to 
possess itself with tranquillity in the hour of danger. 

Second Method. — The highest art of the mind of man is, to 
possess itself with tranquillity in the hour of danger. 

We are of opinion that usage is in favor of the omission of 
the comma, as in the following examples : 

The proposed object of the Union Dictionary is to comprehend 
at once all that is truly useful in Johnson, Sheridan, and Walker. — 
[Thomas Browne. 

The grandest of all conditions is to be at once healthy and wise 
and good. — [D'Arcy Thompson. 

Obs. 17. When the subject is an infinitive phrase, the better 
method is not to separate it; as, ' k To be totally indifferent to 
praise or censure is a real defect in character." Still there is 
excellent authority for inserting a comma, thus : '• To be to- 
tally indifferent to praise or censure, is a real defect in charac* 



84 PENS AND TYPES. 

ter." In sentences of this kind we advise the proof-reader to 
omit the comma unless the author is uniform in the insertion 
of it. 

Obs. 18. Some grammarians set off by a comma the predi- 
cate, when it refers to separated nominatives preceding it; as, 
" The henches, chairs, and tables, were thrown down." And, 
again, we find this example given : " Veracity, justice, and 
charity, are essential virtues." So, in the ordinances of the 
city of Boston, " if any person or persons shall roast any 
cocoa," without having complied with certain conditions, "he, 
she, or they, shall forfeit and pay for every such offence," etc., 
— a comma appearing after they, although a conjunction pre- 
cedes it. But the weight of authority is against separating the 
last noun or pronoun of such compound subject from the verb 
when the conjunction is used. The last quotation, above given, 
should read, " he, she, or they shall forfeit," etc. 

23. A comma should be placed before or after 
a word or phrase, to associate it with the group 
to which it belongs, if, without the comma, the 
sentence would be equivocal ; and, generally, a 
comma may be inserted wherever its use will 
prevent ambiguity. 

This man, only cared to lay up money. 

This man only, cared to lay up money. 

Whoever lives opprobriously, must perish. 

The first maxim among philosophers is, that merit 
only, makes distinction. 

The delight which I found in reading Pliny, first in- 
spired me with the idea of a work of this nature. — 
[Goldsmith. 

My communication was offered and refused. 

My communication was offered, and refused on account 
of its length. 



PUNCTUATION. 85 

Obs. 19. We recently met with this last sentence, pointed us 
follows: "My communication was offered and refused, on 
account of its length"; but it is not easy to see why the 
length of a communication should be assigned as the reason 
for having offered it. 

" Every favor a man receives in some measure sinks him below 
his dignity." — [Goldsmith. 

Obs. 20. A comma should have been placed after receives. 

24. No comma is put between two words or 
phrases in apposition, following the verbs think, 
name, make, consider, and others of similar 
meaning. 

They made him their ruler. 

They called him captain. 

They saluted him king. , 

I esteem you my friend. 

Believing him an honest man, we elected him treas- 
urer. 

We constituted our Secretary a depositary of German 
books. 

I consider him a gentleman. 

Obs. 21. Of the terms in apposition, one is the subject, and 
the other the predicate of to be, understood ("They made him 
to be their ruler"). The rule might, therefore, be worded 
thus : When, of two terms in apposition, one is predicated of 
the other, no comma is required. 

25. In a compound sentence, the comma is 
often inserted where a verb is omitted. 

In literature, our taste will be discovered by that which 
we give; our judgment, by that which we withhold. 



86 PENS AND TYPES. 

Wit consists in finding out resemblances ; judgment, 
in discerning differences. 

In the pursuit of intellectual pleasure lies every virtue ; 
of sensual, every vice. 

Sheridan once observed of a certain speech, that all its 
facts were invention, and all its wit, memory. 

Obs. 22. But sometimes the comma is not inserted : espe- 
cially when the style is lively ; when the clauses have a com- 
mon relation to something that follows; or when they are 
connected by a conjunction. 

Could Johnson have had less prejudice, Addison more profundity, 
or Drydcn more time, they would have been well qualified for the 
arduous office of a critic. 

The Germans do not appear so vivacious, nor the Turks so ener- 
getic, as to afford triumphant demonstrations in bcb;ilf of the sacred 
weed. 

The boat was tight, the day fine, the bait tempting, and the fishes 
hungry. 

26. A short quotation, a remarkable expres- 
sion, or a short observation somewhat in manner 
of a quotation, is set oil' by the comma. 

Plutarch calls lying, the vice of slaves. 

It hurts a man's pride to say, I do not know. 

Cicero observed to a degenerate patrician, " I am the 
first of my family, but you are the last of yours." 

An upright minister asks, what recommends a man ; a 
corrupt minister, who. 

There is an old poet who has said, " No deity is 
absent, if prudence is with thee." 

They tell me here, that people frequent the theatre to 
be instructed as well as amused. 



PUNCTUATION. 87 

The oli proverb, " Too much freedery breeds despise," 
is now rendered, tk Familiarity breeds contempt." 

Obs. 23. When the introductory clause is short, the comma 
may be omitted; as, "Charles Fox said that restorations are 
the most bloody of all revolutions." — " Madame de Stael 
admits that she discovered, as she grew old, the men could not 
find out that wit in her at fifty, which she possessed at twenty- 
five." 

27. Numbers are divided by the comma into 
periods of three figures each. 

The distance of the sun from the earth is usually stated 
at 95,000,000 miles. 

Obs. 24. In a number expressing the year of an era, the 
comma is not used; as, July 4, 1876. In tabular work it is 
very neat and convenient to omit the comma, as in the follow- 
ing example : 
The number of letters in 1600 lbs. of Pica is as follows: 

a . 17000 

b 3200 

c 6000 

d 8800 

e 24000, etc. 

Obs. 25. In some offices the style requires all numbers less 
than 1,00C to be expressed in words; 1,000 and upwards in 
figures. Some printers insert the comma before hundreds, 
only when five figures or more occur. 

28. Restrictive phrases or clauses are not set 
oft' by the cum ma. 

He reviewed such regiments as were armed with En- 
field rifles. 

They flatter the vanities of those with whom they have 
to do. 



88 PENS AND TYPES. 

Attend to the remarks which the preacher is now about 
to make. 

Bishop Watson most feelingly regrets the valuable time 
he was obliged to squander away. 

A false concord in words may be pardoned in him who 
has produced a true concord between such momentous 
things as the purest faith and the profoundest reason. 

" He is known by his company" is a proverb that does 
not invariably apply. 



V. NOTE OF INTERROGATION. 

29. The note of interrogation is placed at the 
end of a direct question. 

Can gold gain friendship ? 

Is that the best answer you can give to the fourteenth 
cross-interrogatory ? 

Is any among you afflicted ? 

Obs. 20. When several distinct questions occur in succes- 
sion, the practice of some writers is to separate them hy com- 
mas or semicolons, placing the question-mark at the close 
only, — as : 

"Where was Lane then; what was his situation?" — [Trial of 
Sclfridgc. 
" Am I Dromio, am I your man, am I myself? " 

This we regard as incorrect. Each several question should 
have the interrogation point. 

" Rosalind. What did he when thou saw'?t him ? What said 
he ? How looked he ? Wherein went he ? What makes he here ? 
Did he ask for me ? Where remains he ? How parted he will? 
thee ? and when shalt thou sec him again ? " 



PUNCTUATION. 8* 

Ons. 27. If several questions in one sentence are joined by 
connectives, each question takes the note of interrogation . 
t; Have I not all their letters to meet me in arms by the ninth 
of the next month? and are they not, some of them, set forward 
already ? " 

Obs. 28. When a sentence contains several interrogative 
clauses, having a common relation to, or dependence on, one 
term, a single interrogation point is sufficient. 

" Was I, for this, nigh wrecked upon the sea ; 
And twice by awkward wind from England's bank 
Drove back again unto my native clime ? " 
"By sensational preaching do you mean an incoherent raving 
about things in general and nothing in particular ; a perversion of 
every text ; an insult of common sense ; a recital of anecdotes which 
are untrue, and a use of illustrations which are unmeaning ? " 
" What can preserve my life, or what destroy ? " 
Note. — An assertion stating a question, does not take the 
interrogation point; as, "The question is, what lenses have 
the greatest magnifying power." 



VI. THE NOTE OF EXCLAMATION. 

30. The note of exclamation is applied to 
expressions of sudden or violent emotion ; such 
as surprise, grief, joy, love, hatred, etc. 

piteous spectacle ! O noble Caesar ! O woful day ! 

An old lady one day importuning Mahomet to know 
■what she ought to do, in order to gain Paradise, — " My 
good lady," answered the Prophet, " old women never 
get there." — " What ! never get to Paradise ! " returned 
the matron in a fury. " Never ! " says he, " for they 
grow young by the way ! " 



90 PENS AND TYPES. 

"Why was this heart of mine formed with so much 
sensibility ! or why was not my fortune adapted to its 
impulse ! Poor houseless creatures ! The world will 
give you reproaches, but will not give you relief. 

Ah ! well of old the Psalmist prayed 
" Thy hand, not man's, on me be laid ! " 
Earth frowns below, Heaven weeps above, 
And man is hate, but God is love ! 

31. The exclamation point is used in invoca- 
tions. 

Father of all ! in every age adored. 
Gentle spirit of sweetest humor who erst didst sit 
upon the easy pen of my beloved Cervantes ! 
Oh, my brothers ! oh, my sisters ! 
Would to God that ye were near ! 

32. Several exclamation points are sometimes 
used together, to express ridicule, or to intensify 
surprise, etc. 

Malherbe observed, that a good poet was of no more 
service to the church or the state, thun a good player at 
ninepins ! I 

VII. THE DASH. 

33. The dash is used where a sentence breaks 
off abruptly. 

Charles. You must invent some ingenious subterfuge 
— some — some kind of — 



PUNCTUATION. 91 

Project. I understand ; not a suggestio falsi^ but a 
wild suppressio veri. 

Charles. Oh, is that what you call it ? There is a 
shorter word — 

Project. There is ; but it is not professional. 

I shall divide the subject into fifteen heads, and then I 
shall argue thus — but not to give you and myself the 
spleen, be contented at present with an Indian tale. 

34. The dash is used before and after a paren- 
thetic clause, when not closely enough connected 
to admit the comma. 

But it remains — and the thought is not without its 
comforting significance, however hardly it may bear on 
individual cases — that no bestowal of bounty, no culti- 
vation of the amenities of life, .... can wipe out the 
remembrance of even doubtful loyalty in the day of 
trial. 

Obs. 29. If a parenthetic clause is inserted where a comma 
is required in the principal sentence, a comma should be placed 
before eacli of the dashes enclosing such clause. 

I should like to undertake the Stonyshire side of that estate, — it's 
in a dismal condition, — and set improvements on foot. 

35. Several clauses having a common depend- 
ence, are separated by a comma and dash from 
the clause on which they depend. 

To think that we have mastered the whole problem of 
existence ; that we have discovered the secret of crea- 
tion ; that we have solved the problem of evil, and abol- 
ished mystery from nature and religion and life, — leads 



92 PENS AND TYPES. 

naturally to a precipitation of action, a summary dealing 
with evils, etc. (See Example and Obs. under Rule *i.) 

36. The dash is used with the commit, the 
semicolon, and the colon, which it lengthens, or 
renders more emphatic. 

We read of " merry England; " — when England was 
not merry, things were not going well with it. We hear 
of " the glory of hospitality," England's preeminent boast, 
— by the rules of which all tables, from the table of the 
twenty-shilling freeholder to the table in the baron's hall 
and abbey refectory, were open at the dinner-hour to all 
comers. — [Froude. 

37. When words are too closely connected to 
admit a strictly grammatical point, the dash is 
used to denote a pause. 

My hopes and fears 
Start up alarmed, and o'er life's narrow verge 
Look down — on what ? A fathomless abyss. 
The king of France, with twice ten thousand men, 
Marched up the hill, and then — marched down again. 

38. When a word or phrase is repeated 
emphatically, or echoed, it is preceded by the 
dash. 

The immediate question is upon the rejection of the 
President's message. It has been moved to reject it, — 
to reject it, not after it was considered, but before it was 
considered ! 

The world continues to attach a peculiar significance 
to certain names, — a significance which at once recurs 



PUNCTUATION. 93 

to one on hearing the isolated name unapplied to any 
individual. 

39. An equivalent expression, or an idea re- 
peated in different words, is properly set off by 
the comma and dash. 

These are detached thoughts, — memoranda for future 
use. 

Wolsey's return to power was discussed openly as a 
probability, — a result which Ann Boleyn never ceased 
to fear. 

There are three kinds of power, — wealth, strength, 
and talent. 

The value of our actions will be confirmed and estab- 
lished by those two sure and sateless destroyers of all 
other things, — Time and Death. 

The present time has one advantage over every other, 
— it is our own. 

Those who submit to encroachments to-day are only 
preparing for themselves greater evils for to-morrow, — 
humiliation or resistance. 

Obs. 30. In a portion of the examples under this rule, the 
dash appears to supply the plaee of viz, or namely. 

40. A dash placed between two numbers in- 
dicates that the natural series between those 
numbers is understood. 

Obs. 31. If a writer refer to "pp. 90, 95," he means those 
two pages only; but if he cite "pp. 90-95,'' the reference is 
to pages 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, and 95. — In dates of the same cen- 
tury, the figures denoting the century are omitted in the second 



94 PENS AND TYPES. 

number : " He has the Farmer's Almanac for 1810-70, — sixty- 
one years." (It will be observed, that, under this rule, the 
6hort or en dash is used.) 

41. An ellipsis of letters is denoted by a 
dash. 

Ex-President J — ns — n. King F — der — ck W m. 



VIII. VARIOUS MARKS USED IX WRITING AND 
PRINTING. 

The hyphen is used to denote the division of a 
word into syllables; as, in-ter-dict : it is placed 
at the end of a line (usually at the close of a 
syllable), when a word is not finished: and it 
connects the parts of a compound word; as, "At 
Cambridge, Cecil was present at the terrible and 
never-to-be-forgotten battle between Cheke and 
Gardiner on the pronunciation of the Greek 
epsilon, which convulsed the academic world." 

The apostrophe is used to abbreviate a word ; 
as, 'tis for it is, tho for though, don't for do not. 
It denotes the possessive case; as, "John's hat," 
"three years' service," "one hour's work," "two 
days' notice," " Smith & Co. V shops," "Brook's 
book," "Brooks's book." It appears in names; 
as, O'Brien; M'[Mac]Mahon. 

In French, no space is put after an apostrophe 



PUNCTUATION. 95 

denoting elision ; as, "d'or" : in Italian, a space 
is inserted ; as, u n' arrivi." 

A turned comma sometimes denotes the ac in 
Mac ; as, M'Donough. 

Two commas (usually turned) are often used 
instead of do. {ditto.) 



Carving knives. 
Pocket " 
Case " 



Book of History. 
„ „ Chemistry. 
„ „ Algebra. 



Quotation marks [** "or * "] are used to 
include a copied passage. If the copied pas- 
sage itself contains a quotation, the latter is 
denoted by single marks [' ' or ' '] ; as, " My 
father said in banter, « James, the notes are not 
correct.' The farmer dryly answered, 'I diuna 
ken what they may be noo; but they were a' 
richt afore ye had your fingers in amang 'em,' " 

Brackets are used to enclose words omitted by 
a writer or copyist ; as, " Were you [on the] 
deck of the steamer at the [time] of the colli- 
sion ? " (In the Holy Scriptures, supplied words 
are put in italics : u Because they sought it not 
by faith, but, as it were, by the works of the 
law.") Explanations inserted in text, are usu- 
ally enclosed in brackets ; as in the following 



96 PENS AND TYPES. 

instance, from " The Life of Dr. Goldsmith " : 
" You see, my clear Dan, how long I have been 
talking about myself. [Some mention of private 
family affairs is here omitted.~\ My dear sir, 
these things give me real uneasiness, " etc. 

Marks of parenthesis are used to enclose a 
sentence, or part of a sentence, which is in- 
serted in another sentence: "One Sunday morn- 
ing, when her daughter (afterwards Lady Elton) 
went into the kitchen, she was surprised to find 
a new jack (recently ordered, and which was 
constructed on the principle of going constantly 
without winding up) wholly paralyzed and use- 
less." 

The index [ JJ3 31 ] is used to draw attention to 
some particular passage. Sometimes three as- 
terisks [ * # * ] are used for the same purpose. 

The caret [ A ] is used in writing, to denote 
the point where an interlineation is to be in- 
serted. It is sometimes used in printing when 
the exact character of a manuscript is to be 
represented, — as in "exhibits" in law work. 

The brace [ ^^\ J is used to connect a num- 
ber of words with one common term ; and, in 
poetry, to connect three lines which rhyme to- 
gether. 



PUNCTUATION. 97 

Moore's Works, ^ 

Saurin's Sermons, >$1.75 each. 

Lewis's Plays, j 

Injustice, swift, erect, and unconfined, ^ 

Sweeps the wide earth, and tramples o'er mankind, > 
While prayers, to heal her wrongs, move slow behind. ) 



Marks of Ellipsis or Omission are the dash ; as, 
"Col. Sm — h": or asterisks; as, "Col. Sm**h": 
or, neatest of all, points; as, "Col. Sm . . h." 

Leaders are dots which lead the eye from 
something on the left of the page, to that with 
which it is connected on the right. 

Globe Insurance Co London, Eng. 

Mutual Life In. Co Hartford, Conn. 

Accents are the Grave [ v ] , the Acute [ ' ] , 
and the Circumflex [ A ] : d is read by the copy- 
holder grave e; d, acute e; §, circumflex e. 

Marks of Quantity are the Long, as over o 
in "show"; the Short, or Breve, as over o in 
" not" ; and the Diaeresis, which denotes that the 
hitter of two vowels is not in the same s}dlable 
as the former; as, "zoology," "Antinoiis." 

The cedilla is a curve line under the letter c, 
to denote that it has the sound of s; as in 
7 



98 PENS AND TYPES. 

•'gargon," "facade." It appears in words from 



The Spanish ii has the sound of n in onion ; 
as, " Senor," "callon." 

*f[ denotes the beginning of a paragraph, as 
may be noticed in the Sacred Scriptures. In 
proof-reading and in manuscript, it is used to 
denote where a paragraph or break should be 
made. 

§ denotes a section; §§, sections; as, Gen. 
Stat., Chap. IX., § 19, and Chap. X., §§ 20 
and 21. 

Reference to notes at the bottom of the page 
(commonly termed footnotes), is usually made 
by the asterisk, * ; the obelisk, or dagger, f ; 
the double obelisk, or double dagger, j ; the 
section, §; the parallels, || ; and the IF, — but 
a neater mode is to use superiors ; as, \ 2 , 3 , or 
8 , b , c , commencing with ■ or a on each page 
where notes occur. 

In concluding our chapter on punctuation, we 
venture to say to our friends at the case, that, in 
our opinion, no system of pointing can be of 
uniform and universal application. Men differ 



PUNCTUATION.- 99 

as much in style of writing as in personal ap- 
peal ance ; and we might as well expect the same 
robe to fit all forms, as that one set of rules 
shall nicely apply to the endless diversities of 
diction. 

Other things being equal however, he who has 
paid most attention to rule will punctuate with 
the nearest approximation to correctness. With 
a clear understanding of an author's meaning, 
the compositor seldom need go far astray ; and 
if, having clone his best, he finds any passage 
hopelessly involved, or the meaning too subtile 
to be grasped, he has one safe resource, — and 
that is, to follow the copy closely and me- 
chanically. Could he have for reference a few 
pages preceding a doubtful passage, the whole 
matter might become perfectly clear ; but, as 
that is out of the question, those pages being 
scattered as "takes" in other hands, let the 
compositor adopt the safe course, — FOLLOW 
COPY, — and rest assured that no person whose 
opinion he need value, could possibly think of 
finding fault with him. 



CHAPTER V. 

ORTHOGRAPHY. 

Worcester defines orthography as "the art or 
the mode of spelling words"; Webster, as "the 
art of writing words with the proper letters, 
according to common usage." 

There are some words whose orthography 
usage has not settled; two or three thousand, 
perhaps. Worcester's list (from which certain 
enumerated classes of words arc excluded) em- 
braces about seventeen hundred. That the de- 
partures from a common usage are so few, seems 
very remarkable when we take into account the 
immense number of words in our most copious 
language, and, further, that for the last eighty 
3 r ears or thereabouts, printers, scattered all over 
Great Britain and the United States, having va- 
ried interests and destitute of direct concert of 
action, "have exercised a general control over 
English orthography." * 

* The hurried manner in which the materials of the modern 
newspaper are collected, tends in many ways to corrupt the 

100 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 101 

Of the words of doubtful or various orthog- 
raphy comprised in Worcester's list, perhaps 
one eighth are of very rare occurrence ; as, 
"Aam or Awm"; " Bergander or Birgander"; 
"Glede or Glead" (Deut. xiv. 13) ; of another 
large fraction it may be said that many American 
printers would be puzzled to account for their 
being classified as doubtful, in a modern diction- 
ary. "Clothes," for instance, we consider to be 
a settled orthography. What tailor in the Uni- 
ted States advertises " cloaths " for sale ? If 
there were one, we should expect to find his 
shop filled with garments of the old Continental 
cut. No chorister would now " chu.se" to call 



language. Reporters and telegraphers care more for haste 
than taste. Their news-items undergo but a slight revision 
while passing through the hands of the compositor and proof- 
reader; many slang terms are allowed to creep into notice; 
these gradually infect the editorial columns of a portion of the 
press; thence force their way into magazines, and popular- 
novel scribblings.. — and finally obtain the sanction of some big 
and autboritative Dictionary. 

It is pleasant to know that in the office of the New York 
Evening Post, Mr. Bryant has hung up a catalogue of words 
that no editor or reporter is allowed to use. Among these in- 
terdicted words are "bogus, authoress, poetess, collided, debut, 
donate, donation, loafer, located, ovation, predicate, progressing, 
pants, rowdies, roughs, sccesh, osculate (for kiss), indorse (for 
approve), lady (for wife), jubilant (for rejoicing), bagging 
(for capturing), loaned (for lent), posted (for informed), real- 
ized (for obtained)." It is to be hoped that Mr. Bryant's 
example will find many followers. 



102 PENS AND TYPES. 

himself a "quirister" ; and he must be a con- 
firmed toper who would be so "aukward" as to 
"asswage" his thirst from a "eag" of "sider." 

Striking from the list, then, those words on 
which all are now virtually agreed, there remain 
a portion of the words on which our two princi- 
pal dictionaries differ. Authors and publishers 
are of course at liberty to follow either of our 
two most distinguished lexicographers ; and the 
compositor and proof-reader, however desirous 
that one system shall overcome the other, are 
perfectly powerless in the matter : they live on 
the field of conflict, between the contending par- 
tics, in a sort of literary Belgium, and must 
suffer, as all borderers do, the greatest hardships 
of the conflict. For this there is no remedy : 
while a language is living, it must, like all living 
things, be changing, — and while present ques- 
tions are becoming settled, and forms now famil- 
iar are dropping toward the obsolete, new words 
are elbowing their way into notice, and new 
spellings insist on being adopted. The conflict 
of conservatism and progress embraces the mi- 
nutiae of language no less than the important 
affairs of state. 

In this chapter we have mainly to do with a 
class of words on whose orthography no great 
party has agreed, and which may often be found 
spelt in more than one way in the same printed 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 



103 



or written document. We intend to exhibit a 
correct spelling of these words, in a form con- 
venient for reference. Proof-readers, compos- 
itors, and all who desire uniformity in their work, 
will, we trust, find the following lists, and their 
arrangement, adapted to their wants. We pro- 
pose no innovation, except that of so limiting 
the significations of ensure and insure, enure and 
inure, that each of these words in en shall be- 
come a distinct word, instead of being as now a 
various spelling. 



WORDS IN EN. 



Encage 


Enjoin 


Enchant 


Enlard 


Enchase 


Enlarge 


Encircle 


Enlighten 


Enclose 


Enlist 


Encroach 


Enroll 


Encumber 


Enshrine 


Endamage 


Ensure 


Endear 


[To make Bure, certain, or safe; 




" How to ensure peace for any terra 


Endow 


of years." To insure is to con- 


Enfeeble 
Enfoeff 


tract, for a consideration, to secure 
against loss; as to insure houses, 
ships, lives.] 


Enfranchise 


Entail 


Engender 


Entangle 


Engorge 


Enthrone 


Enhance 


Entice 



104 



PENS AND TTPES. 



Entire 

Entitle 

Entomb 

Entrance 

Entrap 



Entreat 
Enure 

[" To serve to the use or benefit 
of"; as, a gift of land enures to the 
benefit of the grantee.] 



WORDS IN IN. 



Inclasp 




for loss of anything specified "; as, 




to insure houses against fire, etc.] 


Incrust 




Interlace 


Indict 
Indite 




Interplead 
Inthrall 


Indorse 




Intrust 


Indue 




Intwine 






Infold 




Inure 


Ingraft 




[To accustom; as, a man inures 


Ingrain 




his body to heat and cold; a Boldier 
to blood inured.] 


Ingulf 










Inveigle 


Inquire 




In wheel 


Insnare 






Insure 




Inwrap 

In wreathe 


[To underwrite; 


" to covenant, 




for a consideration, 


to indemnify 






WORDS I 


N ABLE. 



A certain class of words which have long been 
hesitating between able and ible, or rable and 
rrible* and which have much exercised the die- 






ORTHOGRAPHY. 



105 



tioiuiries, may, without occasioning the least 
trouble to anybody, take shape as words in able. 
And with this class we shall insert a few words 
from which, in proof-sheets, we often strike out 
a superfluous e before able. 



Approvable 

Blamable 

Conversable 

Dilatable 

Dissolvable 

Incondensable 

Inferable 

Intenable 

Manifestable 

Movable 

Provable 



Ratable 

Referable 

Reprovable 

Salable 

Solvable 

Tamable 

Tenable 

Transferable 

Unsalable 

Untamable 

Untenable 



WORDS ENDING IN 0. 



Errors sometimes occur in forming the plural 
of nouns in o. We frequently see frescoes, 
motios, — both wrong. The general rule is, If 
the final o has a vowel before it, form the plural 
by adding s : as " cameo, cameos " ; if a conso- 
nant precede the final o, add es. We subjoin 
such of these words as are exceptions to the 
rule. 



106 



PENS AND TYPES. 



Albino 

Armadillo 

Bravo 

Canto 

Cento 

Domino 

Duodecimo 

Fresco 

Giotto 

Halo 

Inamorato 

Junto 

Lasso 

Limbo 

Memento 

Merino 

Octavo 

Portico 

Proviso 

Quarto 

llotundo 

Salvo 

Sirocco 

Solo 

Tyro 

Virtuoso 

Zero 



Albinos 

Armadillos 

Bravos 

Cantos 

Centos 

Dominos 

Duodecimos 

Frescos 

Grottos 

Halos 

Inamoratos 

Juntos 

Lassos 

Limbos 

Mementos 

Merinos 

Octavos 

Porticos 

Provisos 

Quartos 

Rotundos 

Salvos 

Siroccos 

Solos 

Tyros 

Virtuosos 

Zeros 



Form other plurals regularly; as, "mottoes, 
" mosquitoes," "tomatoes," "buffaloes," etc. 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 



107 



WORDS ENDING IN ISE. 

Words ending with the sound of ize are vari- 
ously spelled ise or ize. Of this class the cor- 
rect spelling of the following words is ise ; 
nearly if not quite all others take ize. 



Advertise 

Advise 

Affranchise 

Apprise 

Catechise 

Chastise * 

Circumcise 

Comprise 

Compromise 

Criticise 

Demise 

Despise 

Devise 

Disfranchise 

Disguise 



Divertiae 

Emprise 

Enfranchise 

Enterprise 

Exercise 

Exorcise 

Franchise 

Merchandise 

Misprise 

Premise 

Reprise 

Revise 

Supervise 

Surmise 

Surprise 



EI AND IE. 



Many persons find it difficult or impossible to 
recollect the relative position of e and *, in such 
words as receive, believe, etc. If they will bear 



108 PENS AND TYPES. 

in mind the following rule, it may save them 
the trouble of referring to a dictionary for this 
point. 

When the derivative noun ends in Hon, the 
verb is spelled with ei : thus, — 

Conception Conceive 

Deception Deceive 

Reception Receive 

But when the noun does not end in tion, the 
verb is spelled with ie : as, — 

Belief Believe 



In closing our chapter on Orthography, we 
subjoin a few words, some of which the diction- 
aries leave in doubt, and others which, for some 
cause, are often misspelled. If printed as in 
the list below, the} 7 will always be presentable. 
Some may think it presumptuous, that, while 
our best lexicographers insert two or more ways 
of spelling a word, and perhaps declare them- 
selves unable to indicate a preference, we should 
venture to express one which we advise authors, 
printers, and publishers to follow. Our an- 
swer is, that the dictionaries have room and 
suitable columns to exhibit various spellings • 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 



109 



but author, compositor, and proof-reader can 
exhibit but one. We give below that one mode 
which we think will be most generally accept- 
able. We have not inserted "hippocras" 01 
"hippocrass," nor many other words, of various 
spelling, which an ordinary man would not be 
likely to meet with more than once in a life- 
time. 



THE PROPER ORTHOGRAPHY OF WORDS DIFFI- 
CULT OR DOUBTFUL. 



Abatis 
Abettor 
Abutter 
Accessary 

[Arts ; as, the accessaries of a pic- 
ture.] 

Accessory 

[Law ; as, accessory before the fact.] 
Agriculturist 

[Not Agriculturalist.] 

Anotta 

[This word is also spelled arnotta, 
arnotto,annotta,annotto t arnatto.] 

Apostasy 

Appall 

Appanage 

Appraisal 

Appraise 

[To appraise an estate.] 

Appraisement 
Apprise 

fTo inform.] 



Ascendant 

[Law: his ascendants and descend- 
ants.] 

Ascendency 
Ascendent 

[Superior; as, an ascendent duty.] 

Attar 

[The aromatic principle; as, attar 
of roses. If written ottar, com- 
positor should follow copy.] 



Balk 

Bandanna 

Bauble 

[Low Latin, baubellum, Sometimes 
written bawble, — follow copy.] 

Befall 

Behoove 

Benefited 

Bequeath 

Bestrew 



110 



PENS AND TYPES. 



Bestrewn 

[Webster, however, has bestrown.] 

Bigoted 

Blouse 

Boil 

[A tumor.] 

Bowlder 
B ram in 
Brier 
Brooch 

fXoun: a jewelled clasp; a paint- 
ing of one color. In any other 
sense, to be spelled broach.] 

Brooch 

[To adorn with brooches or jewels. 
In any other meaning, to be 
spelled broach.] 

Bumblebee 

[If copy have kumblebee, follow 
copy.] 

Burrstone 

[But if, in copy or proof, buhrstone 
or burrhstone, let it stand.] 

Butt 

[A hinge; the larger or blunt end 
of a plank, etc. In compounding, 
write but-end.) 

Calibev 

Calipers 

Calk 

Camomile 
[If written chamomile, follow copy.] 

Canvas 
[Cloth for sails, for paintings, etc.] 

Canvass 

[To examine opinions of voters, be- 
fore an election.] 



Caraway 

Carcass 

Carnelian 

Cassimeie 
[If written lerseymere, do not 
change it.] 

Castana (-nut) 

Caster 
[A vial for the table; as a pepper- 
cosier : a small wheel; the casters 
of a table.] 

. Casters 

[A stand or frame with bottles of 
oil, vinegar, etc.] 

Castor 

[A beaver ; a hat ; a drug.] 

Catchup 

Cayman 

Centiped 
[Follow spelling of biped, quadra- 
lied.] 

Cesspool 

[The dictionaries have cesspool and 
sess-jiool; but one way is enough.] 

Champagne (wine) 
Champaign 

[Flat, open country. Deut. xi. 30.] 

Chestnut 

Chimb (of a cask) 

Chime (of bells) 

Chine 

Cimeter 

[We adopt this form, as best ap- 
proved of the many in use; name- 
ly, cimeter, cimitcr, cymetar, scyrn- 
itar, sajmetar, scimiter, scimitar, 
simitar.] 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 



Ill 



Cion 

[This spelling- seems now preferred 
to scion; but if written with an s, 
follow copy.] 

Clarinet 
Cleat 

[A strip of wood in joiner's work.] 

Clew 

[This spelling 1 is now fixed; but, if 
a writer insist, give him a clue to 
the obsolete.] 

Clodpoll 
Cullender 

[But if written colander, follow 
copy.] 

Colter 

[Part of a plough or plow.] 

Collectible 

Contemporary 

Cony 

Cosey 

Cotillon 

[This spelling prevails at present; 
but if written cotillion, follow 
copy.] 

Councillor 

[A member of a Council.] 

Counsellor 
[One who gives advice ; a barrister.] 

Curtesy 

[At common law, and by statute in 
Massachusetts, the estate of a 
husband, after issue, in the lauds 
of his deceased wife.] 

Courtesy 

[Elegance of manners; the act of 
civility, respect or reverence, per- 
formed by a woman.] 

Crumb 

[The liual b has been for some time 



endeavoring to withdra\r from 
this " silent" partnership. At 
no distant day we hope it can be 
gratified.] 

Cue 

Cuneiform 
Cupel 

Decrepit 

Deflour 

Dependant 

[One who is subordinate ; a vassal.] 

Dependence 
Dependent 

[Hanging down; as, a dependent 
leaf: relying upon; as, " depend- 
ent on charity " : subject to the 
disposal of; as, we are dependent 
on the providence of God.] 

Depositary 

[The person with whom anything 
is deposited.] 

Depository 

[The place where anything is de- 
posited.] 

Desiccate 

Despatch 

Detecter 

Detractor 

Devest 

[Law : to deprive of, or alienate, an 

estate.] 

Dexterous 

Disinthrall 

Disk 

Diversely 

Divest 

[To deprive or strip of any thing that 



112 



PENS AND TYPES. 



covers, surrounds, or attends. — 
Webster.] 

Domicile 

[Webster and Worcester agree on 
domicile. Some attorneys insist 
on domicil, in their briefs. If so 
written, follow copy.] 

Draft (noun) 

[A drawing of men to form or com- 
plete a military corps; an order 
by which one person draws on 
another for money ; an allowance 
in weighing; a written sketch (as, 
a draft of a petition). In any 
other sense than these four, use 
draught.] 

Draft (verb) 

[To draw, detach, or select, as men 
from any company or society : to 
prepare a writing; as, to draft 
resolutions. For all other mean- 
ings, use draught.] 

Dram 
[A small quantity; a weight.] 

Draught 

[To determine the use of this word, 
gee draft.] 

Drier (he who, or that 
which, dries) 

Ecstasy 

Embed 

Embower 

Empale 

Empan[n]el 

[We insert this word to show pref- 
erence of the initial e rather than 
»". One n is Worcester style; two 
tt's, Webster.] 

Equivoke 
Estoppel 



Excellences 

[Plural of excellence. Excellency, 
a title, has Excellencies; as, their 
Excellencies the Ambassadors 
were present.] 

Eyry 

Faecal 
Faeces 
Farther 

[So spelled when space or time is 
indicated ; as, " St. Paul is farther 
north than Boston," — " The tin- 
der box is farther from our time 
than the lucifer match." In other 
cases, further should be used; as, 
" Let us further consider the ten- 
dency of such conduct." A simi- 
lar rule applies to the adjectives 
farther and further farthest and 
furthest.] 

Felly (rim of a wheel) 
Felspar 

[But if written feldspar, feldspath, 
or felspath, follow copy.] 

Ferrule 

[A metallic ring put round anything 
to strengthen it.] 

Ferule 

[An instrument once deemed essen- 
tial in school discipline, by com- 
mittees and teachers; but now, 
happily, laid aside.] 

Fleam 

[Some of our older readers will 
scarcely recognize this word as 
the equivalent of phleme.] 

Flocculent 
Flugelman 
Forestall 
Foretell 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 



113 



Forray 
Foundery 

[In book-work of the higher kinds, 
and in scholarly and historical 
works, spell this word as we have 
placed it in the column ; but, to 
avoid making corrections, spell 
foundry in bill-heads, circulars, 
advertisements, and actual busi- 
ness matters. Foundery is no 
doubt right; but who can poiut 
us to an iron foundery, or brass 
foundery, or even a type foundery? 
"We do not know of one.] 

Frenetic 

[If written phrenetic, follow copy. 
Frantic is the form of this word, 
most commonly used.] 

Fuse 

[A tube charged for blasting, etc. 
If copy has fuze, put in the z.] 



Galiot 

Galoche 

Gantlet 

[To run the gantlet; a military pun- 
ishment.] 

Gauge (measure) 
Gauntlet 

[A kind of glove.] 

Gayety 
Gayly 
Gerfalcon 
Gibe (to scoff) 
Girt 

[To bind with a girth; to encom- 
pass.] 

Girth 

[The band or strap with which a 



burden is fastened on a horse's 
back.] 

Gnarled 
Godspeed 

[No hyphen between syllables; and 
use lower-case g, unless it begins 
a sentence.] 

Good-by 

Gormandize 

Gourmand 

Gray 

Guarantee 

Gypsy 

Halyards 
Halloo 

[This word is used conventionally 
in books as a familiar call, or a 
form of greeting.] 

Handiwork 

Harebrained 

Harslet 

Hatchel 

Hawser 

Hibernate 

Hinderance 

[If written hindrance, follow copy.] 

Hollo 

[Halloo is often met with in books: 
but hollo {pron. hullo) greets the 
ear every day. If spelled holloa, 
follow copy.] 

Hominy 
Hoarhound 

[If written horehound, follow copy.] 

Hostler 



114 



PENS AND TYPES. 



Imbitter 

Imb order 

Imbosom 

Imb ox 

Imparlance 

Innuendo 

Install 

Jail 

Jailer 

Janty 

Jaunt 

Jetty (small pier) 

Jibe (nautical term) 

Jingle 

Jostle 

Judaea 

[If written Judea, follow copy.] 

Judgment 

Lacquer 
Lama 

[The sovereign pontiff of the Asi- 
atic Tartars.] 

Lanch 
[To throw, as a dart or lance.] 

Launch 

[To slide a ship into the water.] 

Leach (to leach ashes) 
Leech 

[A. bloodsucker; part of a sail; a 
physician.] 
Lickerish 
Liliputian 



Lily 
Llama 

[A Peruvian animal.] 

Loath (reluctant) 
Lodgment 

[We advise proofreaders and com- 
positors to follow copy, if this 
word is spelled lodgement; but aa 
all other words of this class have 
dropped the e, let us drive that 
letter from its lodg[e]ment in 
this, as soon as we can.] 

Longe 
[If written lunge, follow copy.] 
Luthern 

[A window in the roof of a build- 
ing; often barbarously written 
and printed Lutheran.] 

Lye (from ashes) 



Maladministration 

Malcontent 

Malfeasance 

Malformation 

Malpractice 

Maltreat 

[Tn the above six words in mc.l, 
Worcester inserts the silent e; 
as, maladministration, malecon- 
tent, etc., — preferring, however, 
maltreat to maletreat. We have 
often marked in the e, and, as a 
general thing, have noticed that 
the author has marked it out 
again. Webster omits the e. Wc 
do not undertake to say which is 
the better form ; what we do say 
is, that if the proof-reader passes 
these words as we have given 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 



115 






them above, foity-nine writers 
out of fifty will be content.] 

Mall 

[An instrument used in driving 
wedges. If written maul, follow 
copy.] 

Mandatary- 
Mandrel 
[Part of a lathe.] 
Manikin 
Marten 

[A carnivorous animal.] 

Martin (a birdj 
[If written marten, follow copy.] 

Martingale 
Mattress 

[A kind of bed.] 

Meter 

[He who, or that which, measures; 
as, coal-meter, gas-meter, etc.] 

Metre 

[Measure as applied to verse; a 
French linear measure.] 

Mileage 

Milleped 

Millionnaire 

Millrea 

Miscall 

Mistle 

[To rain in small drops. "We do 
not spell this word misle, because 
in that case its imperfect, misled, 
might be mistaken for the imper- 
fect tense of mislead, the orthog- 
raphy being the same. Mizzle is 
a low term for running away.] 

Mistletoe 
Modillion 



Moneyed 

[If you find it monied, do not follow 
copy, except in " Exhibits,' 1 or 
facsimile work.] 

Mortgager 

[One who grants an estate as secu- 
rity for debt. This is the correct 
spelling, when the accent is placed 
on the first syllable.] 

Mortgageor 

[The correct spelling when the ac- 
cent is placed on the last syllable; 
i. e. when used with reference to 
mortgagee. We insert this spell- 
ing in hopes it may find favor with 
our legal friends. Mortgagor is 
an excuseless barbarism. . When 
so written we have frequently 
marked in the e ; but, with scarce- 
ly an exception, every attorney 
for whom we have read a brief, 
has insisted on mortgagor, — cit- 
ing the General Statutes. The 
compositor and proof-reader may 
as well economize labor and pa- 
tience by spelling the word mort- 
gagor in the first place. But if 
the printer should, by any possi- 
bility, happen to find mortgager 
or mortgageor in the copy, let 
him be sure to follow it.] 
Mosquito 

[To add to the trouble this insect 
causes, there are twelve allowable 
modes of spelling its name.] 

Mullein 

[Webster has mullen and mullein) 
Worcester, p. xxxii, seems to 
prefer mullin, but that spelling is 
not given in his columns, while 
mullein is.] 
Multiped 
Muscle 
[An organ of motion.] 



116 



PENS AND TYPES. 



Mussel 

[A bivalve shell-fish.] 

Mussulmans 

[This word is the plural of mussul- 
man. Mussulmans are follow- 
ers of Mahomet. This word is 
often thoughtlessly written mus- 
sulmen. In this case, do not fol- 
low copy.] 

Mustache 

Naught 

Net (as, net profits) 
Nobless 
[But, if written noblesse, follow 
copy.] 

Nozzle 

O (in the vocative) 
[As, " O Thou to whom." « O 
Baal, hear us."] 

Oh (exclamation) 

[Oh, dear ! Oh ! I'm frightened ! 
oh ! no nearer, pray !] 

Pacha 
Palette 

[Used by painters.] 

Pallet 

[A small bed: a wooden tool used 
by potters ; a tool used in gilding : 
a term in heraldry: part of a 
clock or watch.] 

Palmiped 

Panel 

Pantagraph 

[If written pantograph, follow 
copy.] 



Pantile 
Pappoose 
Parcenary 
Parol 

[Law. An adjective; as, parol evi- 
dence. As a noun it signifies,— 
a word spoken; word of mouth; 
pleadings in a suit.] 

Parole 

["Word of promise. In military af- 
fairs, a promise made by a pris- 
oner, when released, to reappear 
when wanted; also, a pass-word 
to distinguish friends from ene- 
mies.] 

Parsnip 
[If written parsnep, which is Web- 
ster's spelling, follow copy.J 

Paten 

Paver (one who paves) 

[But if written pavier or pavior, 
follow copy.] 

Pawl 

[Of a windlass, etc.] 

Pedler 
Pewit 
Philibeg 

[But if written filibeg or fillibeg 
(there is authority for both), fol- 
low copy.] 

Philter 

[A potion or charm to excite love. 
From the Greek phileo, to love; 
and must not be confounded with 
filter.] 

Plain 

[A level surface; a field of battle.] 

Plane 
[This spelling obtains in matters 



ORTHOGRAPHY. 



117 



of science and the arts. " Planes 
are often used for imaginary sur- 
faces supposed to cut and pass 
through solid bodies." Plane 
sailing is finding the ship's posi- 
tion, on the supposition that the 
earth's surface is a plane.] 

Pliers 

Plumiped 

Pommel 

Postilion 

[Webster has postillion. Votillion 
and nwdillion have two Vs respec- 
tively: all agree in spelling ver- 
milion with one.] 

Preterit 

[So Walker and Webster; Worces- 
ter has preterite, — follow copy.] 

Preventive 
[Avoid the common blunder of 
writing preventative.] 

Purlin, purlins 
Pygmy- 
Quartet 

[This word is often written quar- 
tette; in such case, follow copy: 
but quartett is inadmissible.] 

Quay 

Quinsy 

Ratan 

[But if written rattan, follow copy.J 

Raze (to subvert) 

Recall 

Re- enforce 

[Reinforce is going out of use.] 



Reglet 

[Us ;d in printing.] 



Ee-mstall 
Relieve 
Relief 
Resin 

[Among the resins are common 
rosin, guaiacum, lac, sandarac, 
mastic, etc.] 

Rosin 

[The resin left after distilling off 
the oil of turpentine.] 

Restive 

Restiveness 

Reverie 

[This word is written indifferently 
reverie or revery. The former 
seems, however, to be more com- 
monly used, for which reason we 
have so inserted it in our columns. 
Dr. Johnson spells the word with 
y, and Walker approves that 
mode. Webster and Worcester 
giva both forms.] 

Rhomb 

[Rhombus; lozenge.] 
Rhumb 

[A circle on the earth's surface 
making an angle with the merid- 
ian at any given place.] 

Ribbon 
Riveted 
Rodomontade 

[If spelled rhodomontade, it may 
save trouble to leave the h in.] 



[The same with swag, to bend by 
the weight. Sag is now the pre- 
ferred spelling, and in keeping 
with the pronunciation in general 
use.] 



118 



PE> T S AND TYPES. 



Sale 

Sainfoin 

Sandarae 

[If spelled sandarach, follow copy .3 

Sat (pret. of sit) 
[Avoid the old spelling, sate.} 

Satchel 

[Our principal dictionaries allow 
two ways of spelling this word 
— satchel and sachet; but as the 
compositor is limited to one way, 
we insert that which seems gen- 
erally preferred.] 

Satinet 
Saviour 

[This word retains, when applied to 
Jesus Christ, its ancient form. 
In all other cases, spelled savior.} 

Scath 
Sceptic 

[Rut if Webster is to be followed, 

spell skeptic.) 

Sciagraphy 

Sciomancy 

Scirrhus 
[If a corresponding adjective is ad- 
missible, it should be spelled scir- 
rhous; as, a scirrkotts tumor.] 

Scotfree 

Seamstress 

Sear (withered) 

Secrecy 

Seethe 

Seize 

Seizin 

[Often written seisin : follow copy.] 



Semitic 

[If written Shemitic, follow copy.] 

Sennight 

[Contracted from sevenrtiffkt, as 
fortnight is from fourteennight.] 

Set (a complete series) 

Shakespearian 

Show 

Sheathe (verb) 

Showbread 

Sieve 

SiHcious 

Siphon 

Siren 

Sirup 

Sley (a weaver s reed) 

Smooth (verb or adj.) 

Solder 

Soliped 

Summerset 

Soothe (verb) 

Spinach 

Sprite 

[Sometimes written spright t — fol- 
low copy.] 

Spurt 
Stanch 
Steadfast 
Strap 

[But a strip of leather or cloth for 
sharpening razors is frequently 
spelled strop. Strap : however 
is preferable. 1 

Strew 
Stupefy 



ORTHOGRAPHY . 



119 



Subtile 

[Thin, delicate, piercing 1 .] 

Subtle 

[Sly, artful, canning.] 

Suit 

[In the sense of retinue, this word 
is often Avritten suite, and pro- 
nounced sweet. The English word 
is better.] 

Sumach 

Surloin 

[A case of unsettled orthography, 
— sirloin is often written : follow 
copy.] 

Surname 

Swale (to waste away) 

[If written sweat, follow copy.] 

Swath 
[The sweep of a scythe.] 

Synonyme 

[This tl is a modern word : it was 
not inserted by Johnson in his 
dictionary; and with respect to 
its orthography, usage is divided. 
In the '. . . . principal English dic- 
tionaries it is spelled synonyme; 
and of the different authors who 
have written works on English 
synonymes, Blair, Crabb, Platts, 
Booth, Graham, and Carpenter 
spell the word with the final e, — 
syr.omyme; and Taylor, Whately, 
and Mackenzie, synovymP The 
words homonyme, psevdonyme, 
etc., are spelled with the final e 
in Worcester's dictionary ; but in 
Webster's, the final e is dropped. 
Follow copy.] 

Tallness 
Tambour 

£A small drum: a species of em- 



broidery. This word retains the 
termination our; but it has, by 
some, been written tanibor.'} 

Tarpaulin 

[But tarpauling is preferred by 
Worcester. Follow copy.] 

Thrash 

[Written thrash or thresh indiffer- 
ently. The former agrees with 
the common pronunciation, and 
we give it the preference.] 

Tidbit 

Tollbooth 

Ton 

[So spelt for 20 cwt. ; a space in a 
ship ; or a measure of timber.] 

Tun 

[A large cask; a wine measure.] 
Tonnage 
Touchy 

[Sometimes written techy, — follow 
copy.] 

Tranquillity 

[But whether we shall spell tran- 
quillize or tranquilize, tranquil- 
lizer or tranquilizer, is a question 
of style.] 

Transference 
Treadle 
Treenail 
Trestle 
Tumbrel 
Turkois 
[The French spelling, turquoise, is 
much used.] 

Unroll 



Vaudevil 



120 



PENS AND TYPES. 



Veil 

Vender (one who sells) 

Vendor 

[So spelled in law; correlative of 

vendee.'] 

Vermilion 

Vertebra (pi. vertebrae) 

Vial 

[A small bottle; often written, but 
6eldora pronounced, phial. Spell 
vial, unless phial is absolutely re- 
quired.] 

Vise 

[A mechanical instrument.] 

Villain 

Villanous 

Villanously 

Villanousness 

Villany 

Visitorial 

[We think this decidedly preferable 
to visitatorial.] 

Wagon 
Warranter 
Warrantor 
[In law, correlative of warrantee.] 

Warwhoop 



Weir 

[An enclosure for catching fish. If 
written wear, wier, or were, you 
can safely follow copy.] 

Weasand 

Welsh 

Whippletree 

[Often written and spoken whiffle- 
tree, — follow copy.] 

Whippoorwill 

[We think this the most usual or- 
thography of this word. Webster 
has it whippowil: Worcester has 
whippoorwill, and says it is also 
written whippowill.] 

Whoop 

Whooping-cough 
[In hospital reports, if diseases are 
arranged alphabetically, you may 
find this word under H, spelled 
hooping-cough : if so, follow copy, 
and adhere to that spelling when- 
ever the word occurs in the same 
report.] 

Withe 
Wreathe (verb) 



Yeast 

Yelk (of an egg) 



CHAPTER VI. 

READING GREEK. 

As Greek words often occur in proof-sheets, 
wo shall here present the Greek letters and char- 
acters, with such practical directions as may 
enable the copy-holder and reader to acquit 
themselves, in this branch of their profession, 
without discredit. A few hours' attention will 
suffice to fix in the memory as much knowledge 
of Greek as will serve for the mechanical follow- 
ing of the copy. 

The Greek alphabet consists of twenty-four 
letters. 



NAMES. 


CHARACTERS. 


ENGLISH. 


Alpha 


A a 


a 


Beta 


B $ 6 


b 


Gamma 


r r 


s 


Delta 


4 d 


d 


Epsilon 


E e 


e 


Zeta 


z c 


z 


Eta 


H V 


e 


Theta 


Q & 6 


th 



121 



122 PENS AND TYPES. 



Iota 


I t, 


l 


Kappa 


K x 


k 


Lambda 


A I 


1 


Mil 


M fi 


m 


Nu 


N v 


n 


Xi 


£ £ 


X 


Omicron 


o 


6 


Pi 


n n 


p 


Rho 


r c 


r 


Sigma 


2 cr, final g 


8 


Tau 


T T 


t 


Upsilon 


Y v 


U 


Phi 


<I* q> 


P h 


Chi 


X X 


ch 


Psi 


v y> 


ps 


Omega 


SI w 


o 



In reading Greek, mention each letter by its 
English equivalent. 

E is read, " cap. short e " ; s 9 " short e " ; H is 
read, " cap. long e " ; y, " long e." 

O is read, " cap. short o " ; o, " short o " ; ft is 
read, " cap. long o " ; w, " long o." 

There are three accents, — the acute (' ), the 
grave ( % ) , and the circumflex ( * ) . 

tf is read, "acute u"; I is read, "grave i"; 5 is 
read, "circumflex a." 

Over every vowel or diphthong beginning a 
word, is placed one of two characters, called 



HEADING GREEK. 123 

breathings, which, for the purpose of reading, 
we may designate as the smooth ( * ) and the 
rough ( ' ) . 

d is read, "smooth a "; I is read, "rough i." 

When two marks appear over a letter, both 
should be mentioned by the copy-holder. 

if is read, "smooth, acute u " ; o is read, "rough, 
acute, short o " ; o, "rough, grave, short o"; &, 
"circumflex, smooth, long o." 

Obs. The compositor and proof-reader should be careful 
that accented letters are used according to the copy, as in 
many cases the difference of accentuation serves also to mark 
the difference of signification. Thus, viog signifies new; vebg, 
afield: tov, a violet; ibv, going. 

a, 77, o, are diphthongs ; their second vowel 
(*), being silent, is placed underneath, or sub- 
scribed. These should be read thus : *t, " a 
subscript"; ij, "long e, subscript"; 9, "long o, 
subscript." 

In Greek, only four points or stops are used : 
the comma ( , ) ; the note of interrogation. ( ; ) ; 
the colon, or point at top ( • ) ; and the full 
stop (•). These should be mentioned as they 



124 PENS AND TYPES. 



EXAMPLE EOR KEADING. 

EPIGRAM ON THEMISTOCLES. 

*AvtI T<bq>ov XitoTo &eg 'EXl&da, &eg d' ini to&zolv 
doTuqaiu, ftagfiaQiitag av{iftolu vavq>&OQlag y 

Kul Tv/ufica xo?]7Tida neqlyqacps fleqcmtbv "Aqrj 
Kal Ziol-rjv jovroig &uute 06[ii(ttoxXe<x. 

2t6lXo. d' <x Zalafilg intxelcrsTai,, sqya. teyovuct 
T& t ufc il fie oplxooTg tov jieyav IviliOeis ; 

The method of reading will, we think, be suf- 
ficiently exemplified if we give but one line. 
We select the third, which should be read by 
the copy-holder, as follows : 

Cap. K, a, grave i; t, acute n, m, b, long o 
subscript; k, r, long e, p, circumflex i, d, a; p, 
short e, r, acute i, g, r, a, ph, short e ; cap. P, 
short e, r, s, i, k, grave short o, n ; cap. smooth 
acute A, r, long e. 



CHAPTER VII. 

TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN THIS WORK. 

Case. A frame divided into boxes, or compartments, 
for holding types. The upper case contains capitals ; 
the lower case, small letters. 

Chase. An iron frame in which the pages of matter 
are locked up. 

Doublet. A portion of a take, repeated by the com- 
positor. For instance : " It is of no use to lament our 
misfortunes, of no benefit to grieve over past mistakes." 
Suppose the compositor to have set up as far as the sec- 
ond "no" inclusive, — he then glances at his copy for 
the following words, but his eye catches the first " no," 
and he resets what is already in his stick. Of course the 
proof will read thus : " It is of no use to lament our 
misfortunes, of no use to lament our misfortunes, of no 
benefit to grieve over," etc. 

Form. The pages of matter enclosed in the chase. 

Galley. A frame which receives the contents of the 
composing-stick. When the stick is full, it is emptied 
upon a galley. 

Impose. To lay the made-up pages of matter on the 

125 



126 PENS AND TYPES. 

stone, and fit on the chase in order to carry the form to 
press. 

Indention. The blank space at the beginning of a 
common paragraph, or of a line of poetry, etc. When 
the first line is not indented, while the following lines of 
the paragraph have a blank space before them, the para- 
graph is said to be set with a " hanging indention." 

Specimen of Hanging Indention. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, 
in General Court assembled, and by the authority of 
the same. 

Justify. To insert spaces between the words of a 
line of type, so that the line shall exactly fit the width 
of the stick. 

To Lock up a Form is to drive quoins (wedges) 
in such a manner as to hold the type firmly in the 
chase. 

To Make up is to adjust the matter in pages of equal 
length, as nearly as may be, for imposition. 

Matter. Types set up, so as to form a word or 
words. When it is to be distributed (put back into 
the cases), it is known as "dead" matter. If not yet 
printed, or if destined for further use, it is called "live" 
matter. 

Out. A portion of a take, accidentally omitted by a 
compositor. An "out" is generally referable, as in the 
case of the "doublet," to the recurrence of some word, 
or sequence of letters. For instance : a take had in it, 
" He injured his foot, by wearing a tight boot." The 
proof had, only, " He injured his foot'" The compositor 



TECHNICAL TERMS. 127 

had the whole sentence in his mind ; and, having set the 
final letters " oot," referred these to the last word, 
" boot," and thought he had set the whole sentence. 

Utj^ere, or Query, variously abbreviated, as Qa. Qif. 
or Qr., and sometimes represented by an interrogation 
point, is written in the margin of the proof-sheet, ra 
draw the author's attention to some passage about which 
the proof-reader is in doubt. 

Revise. The second proof is a revise of the first, the 
third is a revise of the second, etc. To Revise is to 
compare the second, or any subsequent proof, with a 
preceding one, to see whether the proper corrections have 
been made. 

Signature. A letter or figure at the bottom of the 
first page of every sheet. It denotes the proper order of 
the sheets in binding. 

Space. If a line of type be divided by vertical planes 
into exact squares, each of these squares occupies the 
space of an em, or em-quadrat. Ems are used to indent 
common paragraphs, and to separate sentences in the 
same paragraph. The next thinner space is the en, or 
en-quadrat, which is one half of the em. The next is 
one third of the em, and is called the three-em space ; 
next, one fourth of the em is the four-em space ; then, 
one fifth of the em is the five-em space. Thinner than 
any of these is the hair-space. The three-em space is 
generally used in composition ; the other sizes are needsd 
in justifying. 

Stick (Uomposing-Stick). A frame of iron or steel, 
in which the compositor sets up the type. By means of 
a movable slide, it can be adjusted to the required length 
of line. 



128 PENS AND TYPES. 

Stone. A table of marble, or other stone, on which 
forms are imposed, and on which they are placed for cor- 
rection. 

Take. That portion of copy which the compositor 
takes to put in type (or " set up ") at one time. 



VARIOUS SIZES OF ROMAN LETTER. 



This I» a line of Diamond. 

This is a line of Pearl. 

This is a line of Agate. 

This is a line of Nonpareil. 

This is a line of Minion. 

This is a line of Brevier. 

This is a line of Bourgeois. 

This is a line of Long Primer. 

This is a line of Small Pica. 

This is a line of Pica. 

This is a line of English. 

This is a line of Great Primer. 

9 129 



SPECIMEN OF FIRST PROOF. 



I j We can imagine Iiow up to a certain point, «*• c. 1,1 

a-«H*e«-j whatever ill may result from it, may man 
a. I give Ap the direction of his temporal affairs Cy^ , . 



> Otet 
feaa 



w to aQnoutward authority. 



'We" 



can conceive 



_J # 

a notion of thatiphilose- JH 



'pher who when one told him that his was on faou^e 
£L ' fire, said, " ko and tell my wife; I never medd- 

&» To) with household affairs" ["But when our Cy-^/Q / " 
atet conscience,-©** thoughts, -end- intellectual ex- out 
ttat. istence are at stake — to give up thi gover- el nl 
{if ~^C ment of one'sjself, to deliver over onejs very \y 
s~-^ soul to the''~"" v authority ofa stranger, is indeed ffi X 

— 7{ c ^deT"i s indeed 1000 times worse a tnouxaana 




__ — — ^T+Tide — I to /than\ become a it. I w. fr. 
Hy servvtu \_y / f 

of the soil. Guizot. sJld.c. 



130 



t 



MARKS USED IN CORRECTING PROOFS. 

| | Insert an cm-quadrat. 
< ^f Dele, take out; expunge. 
•$ Insert space. 
""-^ Less space. 
^^ Close up entirely. 
S^-~ v^ Dele some type, and insert a space in lieu of what is 

removed. 

^~ ^_y Dele some type, and close up, 

X Broken or battered type. 

Push down a space or quadrat. 
| Plane down a letter. 
• • • • Placed under erased words, restores them. 
&let Written in the margin, restores a cancelled word of 
passage, or such portions of erased text as have 
dots under them. 
^[ Begin paragraph. 
C or L_ Remove to left. 
|] or J Remove to light. 

i — i Carry higher up on page, 
t-^-i Carry down. 

zEE. Three lines subscript, denote capitals. 
= Two lines subscript, denote small capitals. 
— One line subscript, denotes italics. 
w. ■£. Wrong font. 

it. Transpose. ( • ) Period. f : j Colon. 

/. c. Lower-case. *. c. Small capitals. 

t&a,. or &U. or? calls attention to some doubtful word or sentence. 
Several other marks are used, which need no explanation. 

131 



THE RIOHT WORD Df THE RIGHT PLACE. 



CAMPBELL'S 

Handbook of English Synonyms. 

WITH AN APPENDIX, 

SHOWING 

The Correct Uses of Prepositions. 

160 pages, Neat cloth binding, 50 cts. 

This compact little volume contains about 40,000 synonymous 
words, printed in clear, distinct type. 

It is a work which will substantially aid speakers, writers, 
teachers and students — in fact all who would gain a more copious 
vocabulary and increase their power of expression. 

It includes the really important matter of the more bulky vol- 
umes which are commonly sold for two dollars or more. 

A great choice of words is here placed at the service of the 
writer and the speaker. 

The Appendix, containing " Prepositions Compared and Dis- 
criminated," and "A List showing what Prepositions to use after 
certain Words," is a trustworthy guide in a great number of cases 
of doubtful usage. A writer's knowledge of English idiom and 
his style are best shown by his use of these little hinges of the 
language. 

Sold by all booksellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on 
receipt of price. 

LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, 

47 Franklin Street, Boston, i 



HANDBOOK OF PUNCTUATION. 



PUNCTUATION 

AND 

OTHER TYPOGRAPHICAL MATTERS, 

FOR THE USE OF 

PRINTERS, AUTHORS, TEACHERS AND SCHOLARS. 

BY MARSHALL T. BIGELOW, 
Corrector at the University Press, Cambridge. 

Small 4to. Cloth, 50 cts. 



Lenox Library, Xew York, Aug. 19, 1881. 

Dear Mr. Bigelow. — I sent for your "Punctuation and 
other Typographical Matters" (having long groaned over had 
pointing' in authors and printers), and was glad to rind an excel- 
lent manual which will contribute to the comfort of many. I 
cordially recommend it to all authors, printers and men of let- 
ters. Faithfully yours, 

Allibone's Dictionary of Authors. I. Austin Allibone. 

"Punctuation and other Typographical Matters, for the use of 
printers, authors, teachers and scholars, by Marshall T. Bigelow, 
is a little book which it would be difficult to overpraise. Mr. 
Bicelow. for a long time a member of the great printing firm of 
"Welch, Bigelow X- Co., is an accomplished proof corrector. The 
accuracy and elegance which have always characterized the 
typography of the University Press were in the first instance due 
to him. 

"There is no work that requires more careful training or a 
greater number of rare qualifications than proof-reading. 

"Mr. Bigelow's book is a practical treatment of the subject, 
and enlarges the reading public's obligations to him." — Atlantic 
Monthly. 

" It is intended for the use of authors and teachers, while busi- 
ness men who have occasion to print circulars, advertisements, 
etc., can hardly afford to be without a copy of it for reference." 
— Schenectady Daily Union. 

Sold by all booksellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on 
receipt of price. 

LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, 

47 Franklin Street, Boston. 



"THE BOOK IS ADMIRABLE." 



HANDBOOK 



LIGHT GYMNASTICS. 

By LUCY B. HUNT, 

Instructor in Gymnastics at Smith (Female) College, Northampton, Mass. 

Illustrated. Cloth, 50 cts. 

" This manual is admirably adapted for the use of teachers and 
pupils in public and private schools, and in seminaries and col- 
leges, as well as a guide to health-giving exercises in the homes, 
especially for girls. Well-arranged series of exercises are given 
in free gymnastics, wand exercises, ring exercises, dumb-bells, 
procession, mutual-help exercises, bean-bags, marching, and a 
practical chapter on dress suitable for gymnastic exercises to be 
taken in. All these exercises have been carefully selected and 
thoroughly tested, and can be safely practised by" any person in 
ordinary health." — Journal of Education. 

" Taking the system of Dr. Bio Lewis as a foundation, Miss 
Hunt has, during her experience as a teacher, taken from, added 
to, and altered various exercises, until the course, so to speak, 
has assumed the order now presented in her little book, a course 
which, if carefully followed, will make the maidens of America 
better fitted to become its mothers." — N. Y. Mail and Express. 

" It is designed as a guide to teachers of girls, but it Avill be 
found of use also to such as wish to practice the exercises at 
home." — A 7 ". Y. World. 

" A volume so very diminutive that one can hardly realize that 
ij, contains nearly all that one needs for the teaching or practice 
of light gymnastics, and even more than Dr. Lewis's clever and 
amusing volume." — Budget. 

" This work has many advantages. It is inexpensive, it is con- 
venient, it is condensed, it is clear. It is careful to avoid any 
strained, unnatural, or ungraceful positions, it does not attempt 
to make a gospel of gymnastics, as some fanatics have done." — 
iST. Y. Christian Advocate. 

"A useful little manual, by a teacher of much experience, who 
embodies in this little work the best results of her knowledge 
and practice of the modern system of gymnastic exercises for 
girls' schools and colleges; and also for use at home." — Jennie 
June. 

Sold by all booksellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on 
receipt of price. 

LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, 

47 Fra>'klix Street, Bostok. 



GARFIELD AND THE PRONOUNCING HANDBOOK. 



SOULE & CAMPBELL'S 
PRONOUNCING HANDBOOK 

'OF 

WORDS OFTEN MISPRONOUNCED, 

AND OF WORDS AS TO WHICH A CHOICE OF PRONUNCIATION 
IS ALLOWED. 

3000 Mistakes in Pronunciation Corrected. 

A POCKET VOLUME. 

Price 60 cts. Cheap Edition, 35 cts. 

In the able article on "Characteristics of Presi- 
dent Garfield," in The Century Magazine, its author, 
E. V. Sm alley, thus alludes to this little book: 

"He had a great love for linguistic knowledge, and would often 
make a half-game and half-study with his children of telling the 
meanings of words, or detecting errors in pronunciation. Drop- 
ping in at his house, one morning in the campaign summer of 
1880, just as breakfast was over, I found the family lingering at 
the table while the General read from a little dictionary of words 
frequently mispronounced. He would spell the word, and then 
ask each in turn what the correct pronunciation should be. The 
elders were about as apt to make mistakes as the children, and a 
great deal of lively chat and merriment, and not a little instruc- 
tion, resulted from the exercise. This he kept up every morning 
after breakfast until the book was exhausted." 

Sold by all booksellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on 
receipt of price. 

LEE AND SHEPARD, Publishers, 

47 Franklin Street, Boston. 



"A VALUABLE HANDBOOK." 



HANDBOOK OF WOOD ENGRAVING, 

With Practical Instruction in the Art for Persons wishing 
to Learn without an Instructor. 

CONTAINING A DESCRIPTION OF TOOLS AND APPARATUS USED, 

AND EXPLAINING THE MANNER OF ENGRAVING 

VARIOUS CLASSES OF WORK. 



A HISTORY OF THE ART FROM ITS ORIGIN TO THE PRESENT TIME. 

BY WILLIAM A. EMERSON, 
Wood Engraver. 

Illustrated. New Edition. Cloth, $1.00. 

"A helpful little book is W. A. Emerson's ' Hand-book of "Wood 
Engraving.' It modestly lays no claim to the place of the teacher, 
and only hopes to aid those who may be forced to make a begin- 
ning by themselves in this attractive art. Yet Mr. Emerson, who 
is himself an engraver, puts his advice so clearly and concisely, 
with such an absence of rhetorical nourish and Avith such a 
wealth of illustration, that he must be a dull pupil indeed who 
cannot by perseverance get from the book the help which will at 
least make him a respectable amateur engraver. No instruction, 
either by example or precept, can do much more, for good en- 
gravers are, like poets and artists, born, not made." — Springfield 
Republican. 

"A valuable treatise that has speedily passed into a second 
edition. The number of young people who are giving attention 
to wood engraving is surprisingly large, a stimulant having been 
provided by several large publishing firms in offering prizes tor 
the best amateur work in this line. The little book in hand will 
not make an engraver out of everybody any more than an essay 
on elocution will make a public speaker, but is sufficient to lay 
the groundwork for any one who is earnest in his efforts to 
acquire the trade ; the rest must be left to time and practice. — 
Rochester Herald. 

"A valuable hand-book, explanatory of an art which is gradu- 
ally attracting the attention of amateurs more and more, and 
which affords not only a pleasing pastime, but an excellent means 
of procuring a livelihood."— Cleveland Sun. 

Sold by all booksellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on 
receipt of price. 

UEE AND SHEPABD, Publishers, 

47 Franklin Street, Boston. 



'THE BUG HUNTER'S HANDBOOK." 



INSECTS: 



HOW TO CATCH AND HOW TO PREPARE THEM FOR THE CABINET. 

COMPRISING 

A Manual of Instruction for Die Field Naturalist. 

BY WALTER P. MANTON, 

Author of" Taxidermy Without a Master," "Handbook of Field 
Botany," &c. 

Illustrated. 50 cents. 



The Boston Post says : " Are yon interested in bugs? Do you 
like to capture the wild and untamed beetle, the insatiable potato 
bug, and the festive grasshopper, and impaling them on pins, see 
'em through a glass? Then you want to know just the correct 
way to do it, and you want to purchase this little volume." 

"In describing the outfit, nothing essential is omitted, and 
illustrations help to make plain this and the directions for pre- 
paring. Useful instructions are added as to the construction of a 
cabinet, time and places to hunt, and the method of " printing 
butterflies." Every boy who has any taste for natural history 
should have this neat little manual. The many " Agassiz Clubs" 
which have sprung up among the youth of the country should add 
it to their libraries." — Chicago Advance. 

"An invaluable little manual for an active lad. or indeed for 
anybodv with limber joints and a taste for out-of-door amuse- 
ments is Manton's "Insects." It tells what outfit the amateur 
bug-hunter should supply himself with, how he should treat his 
specimens when he captures them, and what he must do with 
them when he gets them home in order to preserve them in his 
cabinet. It is so beautifully written and illustrated that it makes 
the reviewer crave to lay hands on a net once more and sally 
forth into the fields." — Syracuse Herald. 

Sold by all booksellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on 
receipt of price. 



iEE AND SHEPAED, Publishers, 

47 Frastklix Street, Boston. 



*- 



LIBRARY OF 



CONGRESS 



021 541 834 o 



^ssssi 









